Date Test
by FailingDemi
Summary: [AU][Future Fic] I'm looking for a secretary. She's looking for a job. She applies. I accept. I have a little test for her to pass or fail. She's Fujioka Haruhi and not like most women. She was the one who caught my eye, and I have a test to give her. HxH
1. Chapter 1

AU future fic.

* * *

**SLAP **

A twenty-five year old man's turned a bright red color and his face was turned side ways. Slowly his hazel eyes moved indifferently towards the owner who had slapped him, he did not do anything else but just stare, as if he knew this was going to happen.

"You were just playing with me!" the woman screeched, her eyes fixed in a glare at the man. The hand that had slapped him clenched into a fist. She scowled at him with utter loathing and hatred.

"Yes, I was," he replied, touching his hit face gingerly. He winced as his fingers ran over the bruise, but his eye returned to the woman who stood before him. "You knew that from the start, hadn't you?"

She was on the verge of tears and she scowled at him. She looked away and spat, "My friends had warned me about you! I should've listened."

"Well, you should've done the correct things…correctly. Oh, and by the way, you're not fit for the job. Thanks for trying though." He looked at her with a con smile on his face. "It was nice playing with you. Thanks for a waste of time."

"What?" she yelled at him. "Now you're dragging the mention of my job? What did this have to do with being your secretary?"

He roughly grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. His golden eyes turned icy and cold. He said huskily, "You're a real catch, but you're not fit for it." His eyes wheeled away and he said to himself. "All girls are always the same."

"You're being a sexist!"

He narrowed his eyes at the ground and looked at her with an apathetic look. "So what if I am? I'm not lying," he replied sharply. "You women accept my offer of a 'date' and it ends the same." He smirked. "They end up going home crying."

"You're a bastard," the woman said bitterly. She directed all her hatred into the glare she gave him, but to her dismay it caused his grin to grow wider. Her brown eyes turned glossy with tears, and she growled at him.

He countered, "And you're a bitch. Scratch that, all women are such dumb shits."

"You just lost your job, Natsume-san," he continued smoothly, as he brushed his fingers through his light brown hair. "Go ahead and cry; women always do that."

"You're a cold-hearted bastard, Hikaru-kun!" she cried, throwing a box onto the floor. Natsume broke into a run away from him, and Hikaru stared into the crowds in which she disappeared through.

Hikaru bent over to pix up the box, and he saw that the glass merchandise inside had shattered. A sigh escaped his lips, and his smile faltered. "Another one failed," he muttered to himself, disappointment clear on his face. "Two hundred or so women rejected in a month."

"Why are they such idiots?"

* * *

K-chak

Once Hikaru had opened the door to the air-conditioned office, the other that was inside noticed the absence of a secretary behind him. Also, Hikaru's slapped disposition told him the whole story.

"Hikaru, you rejected another one…again?"

Hikaru fell on his reclining chair and smoothed out his brown tresses. "Of course, Kaoru, Natsume-san wasn't the one who's work material," he replied nonchalantly, as he picked up a pen and continued his work on the paper in front of him.

His mirror image frowned at him as he placed a stack of papers in a drawer. Kaoru turned around and placed a hand on top of the black compartment and he sighed, "Why are you so picky of these things? I just randomly picked an assistant, why don't you also do that?"

"Women…" Hikaru started out as he stared into the air. "Are idiots. I may be forced to believe that theory if I don't get a perfect secretary."

"Perfect?" his twin asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're fantasizing too much. You will never get a woman who's perfect enough to be your assistant. Hikaru, you're pushing yourself too much. You can't do this alone."

"But aren't you helping?"

"Well…yeah, I am. We're both presidents of the Hitachiin brand, but each of us are in charge of half and half," Kaoru informed. He pointed to his stack of papers and then to Hikaru's. "I have my assistant but you don't have yours."

Hikaru growled to himself as he compared his large stack of papers to Kaoru's small little stack.

"I'm fine working on my own," he grumbled, leafing through the papers. "Damn stupid paper work."

"That's why you need someone to help you," Kaoru replied in a sing-song voice. He dropped limp on Hikaru's shoulders and nuzzled his face into his brother's neck. "Stop being so rebellious, Hikaru. You can fire her if she doesn't do well."

"I don't like firing people."

"Oh? Not enough guts for firing but you have enough to break their hearts."

"Kaoru, please get off me," Hikaru said bluntly, trying to shove off his twin from his shoulders. The door opened slightly to reveal a woman. She stared at them, and they stared at her. She cleared her voice.

"Kaoru-kun, I filed the papers for you," she said, not at all disturbed by the contact that the two males were having. Immediately, the younger twin had stood up and straightened out his suit which was odd against Hikaru's different form of clothing.

"Ara, done that fast, Miyu-chan?" Kaoru asked the woman who had walked in. She nodded and handed him a manila folder in which he leafed through it. He snapped it shut and placed it absently on his desk. "Excellent, Miyu-chan! You can get yourself a cookie!"

"Er…" she said, her eyes sliding to the sides. Kaoru surprised her with weirdness every day, but other then that, she was too used to his antics and his 'touchy-touchy-touchy' attitude.

"Thank you. Would you like me to get you one also?" she asked politely, she turned towards Hikaru who was busily working. "How about you, Hikaru-kun?"

"We'd love to get them," Kaoru answered, as he shoved her outside. "Now, chop-chop, off you go. You have a delicious time down there!"

"Hai. Then I'll excuse myself," she said, before the door closed with Kaoru's back on it. Hikaru paused and tapped his chin with his pen a few times before he placed it on the table.

"Kaoru…I was thinking…"

He turned towards Hikaru and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Are you in love with Miyu-san?"

"…What are you talking about?" he asked confusedly. Hikaru tapped his pen against the table, unconvinced.

"The way you spoke to her…"

Kaoru's face turned into one that sported worry. He walked closer and tilted his head; he asked, "Are you afraid of me leaving you? Don't worry; I won't stop crawling into your bed every night. So don't feel lonely, kay?"

"Actually, it'd be better if you start sleeping in your own bed. You take up too much of my space. You have your own room, go there."

Kaoru snorted; he didn't appreciate Hikaru's tone and statment. "Look who's talking. You're the one who kicks me off whenever I crawl in."

"Why crawl in then?"

"Well…" Kaoru argued.

The door opened and a man walked in, papers in hand.

_"I just want to hold you, Hikaru. You look so…so…lonely without me there!" _Kaoru's voice changed into a desperate uke one, as his hazel eyes turned glossy with fake tears. He clasped his hands together and murmured shyly, _"But, we're so busy…that we can't spend any time together…"_

And the guy walked back out.

"Anyways," Hikaru said, rolling his eyes at Kaoru's act. "You actually like Miyu-san, am I correct?"

"What makes you say **THAT**?" Kaoru asked, flustered that his brother brought up the topic again.

Hikaru casually shuffled his papers. "Kaoru, we're adults. We're not children anymore," he said. "If you want to fall in love, then go ahead. I won't interfere with you." He looked straight at Kaoru and noticed that his face was turning red.

The younger twin stared at the table with a lot of interest, not wanting to say anything. Hikaru took this as a sign to continue. "You can eat cookies or whatever with her; I'll be focused on getting an assistant."

"You'll still be my number one, Hikaru," Kaoru muttered, staring at his face that was right now, unreadable. He continued quietly, "I'll always be there for you."

"It's fine…Kaoru," Hikaru said. He nodded at him with a small smile. "I know."

There was an awkward silence between the twins as they stared at each other with their golden orbs. Kaoru swallowed thickly as he moved around so that he took a seat on the chair's armrest. He said wistfully,"We're…not the same anymore."

"Miyu-san spoke to us correctly," Hikaru said. "These days…people can tell us apart."

"That's a bummer," Kaoru joked lightly. "We work so hard to look the same and act the same."

"Turned out to be useless. We're growing up," Hikaru said with a strained voice. He leaned back and closed his eyes tiredly. He muttered in a quiet voice. "We hardly can express fun anymore."

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

"Hikaru. I have a solution."

He gave him an interested glance. "What is it?"

"Get an assistant!"

"…Kaoru, you've been saying that too much. Seriously, what is it?"

"I said, 'an assistant.' You need someone to take a load off you. You can't do everything by yourself! Hikaru. You. Need. To. Re. Lax."

Hikaru sighed. "There's no real reason behind that, Kaoru. I don't get what you're saying."

"You need to relax, take time to actually express yourself. The damn papers just keep you from doing it," Kaoru protested.

"I know what I'm looking for, Kaoru. I'll see if the ones who're looking for the job is actually fit for it."

"Hikaru, don't go too hard on them. They can be nice people if you get to know them," he said in a distressed voice. He watched Hikaru stand up from the chair and look at him. There was a long silence.

"Can you tell me again how you met Miyu-san?"

The younger Hitachiin stayed silent for an amount of time. He mumbled, "I…"

"Yes, you met her outside of a commoner's supermarket."

"I just bumped into her that's all."

"And spilled her groceries," Hikaru listed; he rose his eyebrows as he said: "And fell on her."

"…Are you trying to shame me?"

Hikaru ignored his question and walked around waving his hands to accompany the words. "And then you HAD to help her because you're a GENTLEMAN."

"I can't be a good guy?"

"I suppose that you noticed that you cracked a lot of her eggs," he continued with an unusually peppy voice. He smiled angelically at his twin, who was as of now frowning and speechless.

"That…Hikaru…was a mistake."

"And then you decided to buy another pack for her."

"Is that bad?"

"And then, you talked to her, hired her and then-"

K-chak

"You fell in love with your…" Hikaru silenced himself when he saw Miyu standing at the door way staring at them.

"…mop," he finished lamely.

"Nevermind, Hikaru, Miyu-chan," Kaoru said, as he ran towards the woman who was holding two cookies that were wrapped up with a napkin. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "He's always a liar."

Miyu stared at Hikaru, who was pretending that he hadn't said anything. She then turned her attention to her employer. "Well, I got cookies for you two."

"How were they?" the calmer of the twins asked as he took a large cookie from the napkin.

"Kind of lacking of sweetness, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it, Kaoru-kun."

He turned to Hikaru and waved his hand at Miyu. "You're dismissed, I'll call you when I need you."

"Hai, Kaoru-kun."

Slam.

"Kaoru…"

"What?"

"You really, really, really, really, really LIKE her," Hikaru teased.

"S-Shut up."

Knock, knock.

K-chak.

"Excuse me, Hikaru-san…you have thirty young women who're applying for the position of being your assistant," someone said before they left. Hikaru gave Kaoru an accusing glare.

"Why…women?"

"Aw, come on, Hikaru," he said, while pushing his older brother to the door. "I know you detest them so much, but they're more trustworthy then guys."

* * *

A brunette fidgeted as she was sitting in the waiting room. There were thirty or so other women waiting with her, so she knew that the chance of getting the job would be slim. Very slim. She did a quick calculation on how much her chance would be. And her chance came out to three percent.

The twenty-five year old brushed her fingers through her dark brown hair and she drummed her other fingers on a black case on her lap. She NEEDED this job in order to live out her dream. Law school was eating up her saved money fast and the woman needed to get more.

Being a secretary, or more so an 'assistant' in the employer's term, was too easy for the woman. She had dealt with paper work before, so she can finish them up quickly and at the same time attend Law school with the money that she would make.

Who was this woman? Well…her name was:

"Fujioka Haruhi," a woman said as she stepped out from an enclosed room. "Please come this way."

Haruhi stood up and slowly made her way to the door. Someone passed by her, the woman was rubbing her red eyes. She glanced at the crying woman before being pulled away inside.

She concluded that she was crying…

But why? Once she walked in, she was surprised that she was in a hall. All the chatters that were occurring outside disappeared once the door closed behind her. The escort led her to one of the doors along the hall and nodded briefly before exiting the hall. Haruhi gulped and flattened her casual top against her beige colored pants.

First impression was always good, a neat suit and orderly skirt is a must.

But to Haruhi…first impression was too expensive. And so she opted for something like a casual wear. She hoped that this first impression would turn against her. Knocking once on the door, Haruhi opened it slightly and peeked in.

"Come in," a blunt voice ordered immediately. She slipped in and closed the door quietly behind her to see that her employer was actually her age. She stared at him in shock, and he was flipping through and reading the résumé.

"Sit."

She blinked and sat obediently on the cushion chair that was placed before the desk. Haruhi took the time to stare at the twenty-five year old man in front of her who was leafing through her résumé.

It was hard to believe that someone as young as him had inherited the Hitachiin Co. and made it the most popular among the fashion designs. Haruhi was truly amazed, and felt small when she realized how prodigious that the man was.

As well…she noticed that he had faint dark rings underneath his eyes, as his eyes skimmed papers boringly. Maybe that was why he was looking for a secretary.

The last thing that struck her strange was that instead of a suit, he was wearing casual wear. A beige colored t-shirt underneath a red v-necked tank, and black cargo pants that ended in mid-shin. Wasn't he a businessman?

Hikaru glanced at her and then back at the papers. He let out a sigh, _'She looks a lot like a guy…' _

"Have you any experience with dealing papers?" he asked, jumping straight to the point. Haruhi jolted from her senses and opened her mouth to speak.

"Y-Yes..."

There was silence, only the sound of the air conditioner rattling in the vents above filled in for their lack of speech. Hikaru singled out a small stack of papers amongst all of the others on the desk. "Your work history's a bit jumbled, explain please."

"Well, currently I attend my Law school, and because I need to pay for the tuition and items that are supplied, I constantly switch from job to job. And…so…" she bit her lower lip, as she played with her fingers. 'And so what…great going, Haruhi…' she mentally chided.

"But it says here that you had been unemployed because of some unknown cause at your previous job…?" He looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, technically, the owner had some difficulties with managing the company, so he was forced to shut it down."

Hikaru kept reading the paragraphs on the paper. His interest in this woman was starting to spark. His eyes paused after one sentence and he slowly looked up at Haruhi. She noticed his stare and fidgeted uncomfortably.

"You're a commoner," he stated, expecting her to confirm his guesses. Haruhi squirmed at the name and asked.

"C-Commoner?"

Hikaru roughly closed her folder and stood up from his seat. Haruhi was staring at him in question. He asked with a stern edge to his voice, "Do you want this job?"

"Of course, I do," Haruhi replied, standing up from her seat. Hikaru shrugged at her and opened the door, and he walked out with Haruhi following. He pocketed his hands and said in a low voice.

"There will be a test."

"Is there?" Haruhi asked, as the Hitachiin walked back towards the waiting room; he shrugged.

"It's hard. My decisive factor is too long and too hard. And unfortunately, you won't be informed of this criterion," Hikaru said, he turned around and faced Haruhi. "This test is harsh, and believe me…all the women who had taken this test, they all ended up backing down during the middle. You may end up running home in tears…or worse. Are you sure that you want this?"

Haruhi gulped and then nodded determinedly. Hikaru stared at her with a blank face and then he flung open the door to the waiting room. The door slammed against the wall causing all eyes to turn to him.

"Hired," he said nonchalantly to the escort. He walked towards the door leading outside. Haruhi was staring at him with her mouth wide open. He paused before leaving, "But don't put the files in yet, there's a high chance of failure."

"Will do that," the escort said. Haruhi slowly followed Hikaru outside of the building and stared at him as he stood there, his back to her. There was silence, as a gust of wind blew at them.

"Uhm, Hitachiin-san, why-"

"Hikaru's fine with me," he said, turning sideways so that he could looked at her. "There's two 'Hitachiin-san's here, so I suggest you use my first name."

"Hikaru-san," Haruhi corrected herself. She asked curiously, "How will the test be like?"

Giving a smile, Hikaru took Haruhi's wrist and pulled her into a walk to a limousine that was parked right before them. He said, "We'll talk about the test later. Right after we'll have a little...date."

"Wait…" Haruhi said, stopping in her tracks. Hikaru turned to look confusedly at her. "What date?"

"A date, so I can get to know you and you get to know me," Hikaru said with a smile. Gently pulling her hand, Hikaru led her to the limo. "We'll just use the whole day. Is that fine with you?"

They climbed in and Haruhi frowned slightly; Hikaru noted it. She felt strange in the luxury, and she mumbled, "I rather I start on the paper work first, but if you insist…"

"It's fine, really," said the Hitachiin as the car started to go on the move. He called to the driver, "Take us to Ginza, please."

"Ginza?" Haruhi repeated surprise evident in her voice. "That's an expensive shopping district!"

"Not at all," Hikaru said with a carefree smile. He leaned back in the limousine and hummed. "I'm one of the presidents of the Hitachiin Co. I reel in a lot of you're wondering."

The brunette frowned and looked away. But her thoughts weren't focused on about money…

Her friends had told her about this certain Hitachiin before she applied for the job. They said that Hikaru was one to break hearts, and that he could easily whip away her job if he wanted to.

He could make people cry, and that probably explained the girl crying. Haruhi nibbled on the back of her index finger and tossed a sneaky glance at Hikaru.

_'But…Hikaru-san seems to be way different than what everyone says…'_

The car ride continued in silence until the limousine driver skidded to a stop underneath a highway bridge. Haruhi looked out the window and saw many cars and people go by. The chauffer announced, "We're at Ginza now. Hikaru-sama."

"That'll be okay, I can get out myself," Hikaru said, when he saw that the man was about to get from his seat. Seriously, whoever said that her employer was really a cold-hearted bastard was wrong. First impression was saying that he was actually decent.

The two adults got out from the car and Haruhi awed at the large buildings that had large posters on the side, animated commercials. There were many people walking around that it would be easy to get lost in. Cars zoomed busily by, people sporting many shopping bags walked on by.

Signs stood at the start and end of a street that prevented cars from traveling through it. Many people walked at that road and held bags and food products.

"Welcome to Ginza," Hikaru said nonchalantly, as he turned to stare at the display of buildings. "Wonderful, no?"

"I guess…you can say that," Haruhi said in a daze, her eyes transfixed at the scene in front of her. Hikaru gently took her hand into his and pulled her along.

"If you want something just tell me," Hikaru said, as he took her into a store. A blast of cold air awoken her from her daze, and she stared at the watches that were at display. Small cards were naming the prices…and they was rocketing.

No way could that twenty-five year old man afford something like that. Haruhi stared at the watches that were displayed in glass cases. They were the most breathtaking of watches that she had seen. The unique designs were carefully carved and crafted…and they were done by hand.

She marveled at how constructed it was…and for how much? It would be in its high hundred-thousands of yen. Haruhi was completely convinced that this man couldn't buy it. It was too high, and for a watch, nonetheless.

"These prices are just too cheap."

Haruhi became silent and she turned to Hikaru who was boringly looking through the glass and at the watch. She interrupted his gaze with a cough, "I'm not that interested in watches, Hikaru-san."

"Of course, your personal history says that you actually have nothing to do with it," Hikaru said. He nodded at the people who work there andcasually walked back out with Haruhi tailing him.

And they went through crowds and walked into a building, before they knew it they were walking around in the giant mall that was soaring with prices over the ten-thousands. Hikaru was, ever so often, glancing at her with a small smile without her knowing or seeing.

He wasn't disappointed…yet. The watch store was just a little test to set the piece of information in her head that just screamed: You can get whatever you want; I can buy it for you. Of course Hikaru had so much money in his disposal. He would buy anything that a girl asks for, even though it was for a small cause.

This woman…Fujioka Haruhi…didn't make a move yet.

However Hikaru learned to not be hopeful, because when he did… he was quickly disappointed when the 'candidate' saw perfume.

"Do you like this place?" Hikaru chanced to ask. Haruhi glanced around the area which was full of cosmetics and jewelry. She gave a dissatisfied frown, something that Hikaru hadn't seen in a place like this.

"Actually, the prices here are crazy, how do they expect people to buy it?" Haruhi asked.

"I can buy it for you, my treat," he said with a grin. He leaned down and said against her ear, "I'll make sure you have a great time…"

_'Before I hurt you in the end.' _

She shuddered when the hot breath sprayed against her ear, but she pretended not to notice his slight predatory attitude. Haruhi stepped away slight and smiled back at him. "Thanks, Hikaru-san."

"You're welcome," he replied. "That smile looks great on you."

_'It's going to turn into a frown soon.' _

"Ah, Hikaru-san!" exclaimed Haruhi. Said person's heart started to sink as he saw Haruhi leave his side, probably going to ask him to purchase something. He watched her with a dismayed face on, as he saw her pick up a shopping basket.

"What's with that?" he asked, his eyes pointing at the basket.

"Oh, this? I thought you might want to go shopping for things," Haruhi said innocently. Hikaru blinked in surprise, and then took the basket from her hands.

"I have nothing to buy here, would you want something?"

Haruhi glanced around, her brown orbs gliding around. Her eyes landed on a section of the store, and she said absently, "Actually…I do have something to buy here."

Hikaru smiled at her warmly. "That's great!"

_'Because it tells me that you're a bitch.' _

* * *

_'Would you want me to buy anything for you?' _

_'I'm fine.' _

_'Why not?' _

_'Because you're not happy.' _

_'What makes you say that?' _

_'Because every time someone buys something, I see your heart crack one more time.' _

_'That's nonsense. Don't you see that I'm happy?' _

_'Yes…But why are your eyes telling otherwise?' _

* * *

"Is this all you want to buy?" Hikaru asked dumbfounded, while staring at the thing that was held in his hand.

"Hai, I was wondering when I should get it, but I figured that if I had to do paper work, I should have gotten it earlier," Haruhi answered. Hikaru's eye twitched ever so slightly at the item in his hand.

"But why…a **pen**?"

"Would you rather I get a pencil?"

"No, I was just saying…" Hikaru trailed as a sweat dropped was on his head. His eyes glanced at the many shelves and shelves of pens. There were many different pens and with different pens there would be different prices.

_'Out of all these pens, she picked the **cheapest**.' _

"Hikaru-san, is something wrong?" Haruhi asked, taking the pen into her hand. She clenched it and said, "I really like this type of pen, so I'll buy it and we can get moving."

"Wait," Hikaru cried, grabbing Haruhi's wrist before she ran to the cashier with her five hundred yen coin in hand. He allowed a moment of silence, before he protested, "I'm treating you, so let me buy it for you."

"I wouldn't want to be of a problem, Hikaru-san," Haruhi said too bluntly, blinking her large brown eyes at him. Hikaru smiled his killer smile that makes girls melt with fuzziness; he patted her head and said reassuringly.

"I'll get it for you."

_'Because you're starting to make me sick with your innocence.' _

Haruhi gave into the smile and just allowed her employer to purchase it at the front desk.

* * *

"Shall we get lunch?" Hikaru asked, as he looked up into the sky. Hours had already passed since morning and it was already lunch time. They did a lot of walking around the area Ginza, and now were taking a rest on a bench. Haruhi glanced at her watch and realized that it was already three o' clock.

"Well, I guess I'm a little hungry," Haruhi said, touching her clothed stomach. A long growl emitted from her stomach that said otherwise. Hikaru laughed at it, while she blushed slightly at her stomach.

"We should go and eat. My treat again."

"Are you sure?" she asked, a bit of worry on her face. "I don't want to impose, Hikaru-san."

"No, my pleasure," Hikaru said, with a disarming smile. He stood up and pointed to a restaurant nearby. "Shall we eat there?"

Haruhi stretched and stood up. She smiled, and said, "Seems fine to me!"

While they walked towards the restaurant, Hikaru narrowed his eyes at her, and his pocketed hand clenched into a fist.

_'Why are you even acting like this?' _

"This place…is so expensive!" Haruhi gasped once they were seated at a table in a restaurant.

She glanced around at the room that they would be occupying in, and marveled at how quiet it was compared to the outside. Not every restaurant that she went to provided a solitaire room for a meal. She flipped through the menu and discovered foods that were never known in her vocabulary before. And the prices that stood beside the name were just crazy.

"Go ahead and order," Hikaru said graciously, as he, too, flipped through the menu. Indeed they were a lot of money, but again, they were nothing to Hikaru. He took his glass of ice water and sipped it, watching Haruhi intently.

Haruhi was too overwhelmed by the prices, and she mumbled, "U-Uhm, it's alright if I skip this meal."

"And starve? It's not nice to deny the person that's paying you know," Hikaru said, his golden eyes piercing her brown orbs.

A butler was standing nearby holding a notepad and pen in his hand. He stood quietly by, until Hikaru placed down his menu. He came up and asked, "May I take your order?"

"I'll get whatever you have on your special," Hikaru said with a lazy wave of his hand. He wasn't that hungry. Hikaru was wondering what Haruhi would order. What his 'pick' would do, and judging by her expression, she seemed to have a hard time choosing.

"W-Well…I'll have…" Haruhi trailed as she looked down the columns. "A plain pancake."

Hikaru's ears twitched.

"Is that all?" the butler asked, there was a slight disappointment on his face. Haruhi nodded and added a small note of gratitude. The man left the room and closed the door after him, leaving the two adults sitting there alone.

He was starting to have second thoughts about this woman. He asked, "You don't want strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, or any flavored ones?"

_'Why a plain pancake?' _

Haruhi played around with the utensils and placed them on one side of the plate. She shook her head and replied, "Because…plain is always better...and cheaper."

Hikaru remained silent as he glanced away. He tapped the surface of the table absently, as his mind was clouded with so many different thoughts. His eyes was concentrating on the floor. This woman…was so different from the rest. They waited for a long while, and a knock interrupted the silence.

_'Why?' _

K-chak

"Your order of plain pancakes is ready."

"Thank you."

_'Why a plain pancake?' _

"In fact, I think plain pancakes are wonderful," she said as she munched on bit of pancake that was smothered with maple syrup. She licked the remaining syrup off from her lips, and Hikaru growled silently.

His fists clenched.

_'Why the innocence?' _

"Oh, I forgot," Haruhi muttered to herself while putting down the fork. She looked at Hikaru and said with a sheepish grin, "I should wait until your order comes in, so that we can eat together. Sorry for not noticing sooner."

He grew more irritated.

_'Why the politeness?' _

His teeth were gritted and his eyebrows were furrowed.

_'Why? How come?' _

He glared at the woman who was in front of him. Why…was she the one different from the rest? Hikaru was getting angry, an uncontrollable wave of hatred swept over him, that even pinching himself wouldn't make him snap out of it.

Fujioka Haruhi did not swoon over him, she did not buy anything fancy, she tried to deny eating lunch, she picked the cheapest meal there…

She was humble.

And she kept being it.

Why did he feel so angry?

How come?

What makes her different from the rest?

Noticing the negative energy from her 'boss', Haruhi looked up and stared at him. "Hikaru-san?"

"You!" he said angrily. In a blink of an eye the table was shoved aside, Hikaru was off his chair, and Haruhi was pinned to the wall with him clutching her t-shirt collar. She winced, confusion and surprise were evident in her dark brown eyes, as she stared at Hikaru in fear.

"Are you even a woman?" he demanded, shoving her roughly against the wall. Hikaru pressed her against the wall, almost choking her. He hissed lowly, "Why are you like this? You're not supposed to be like this! No woman ever acted like this to me before!"

"H-Hikaru-san…what are you saying?" she asked, eyes staring at him worriedly. In an instant, Haruhi was dropped and she crumpled onto the ground. Hikaru withdrew his hands and kept them at his side. He took time to calm himself down from his sudden outburst.

"Why…why are you so different?" he voiced out his thoughts. Hikaru turned to look at her. "Women…are supposed to be…stupid, idiotic, they're supposed to be easy to play with…they're supposed to think of me as a money-machine and **use** me to get what they want...but you…"

Haruhi blinked. "Hikaru-san…what are you…"

"But you…you're different," he admitted. He sighed deeply, and closed his eyes. "I hate you, Fujioka Haruhi."

She stared at him with a confused face.

"Since the time you walked into that room, I hated you."

"Why?"

"Do you really want to know why?" Hikaru asked as he knelt down until he and Haruhi met eye to eye. Without an answer from Haruhi, he immediately closed the gap between them; his lips crushed hers without a second thought.

Haruhi didn't know how to respond, she just sat there frozen to the ground, and Hikaru pushed her into a deeper kiss. She heard her heartbeat banging loud in her ears; she couldn't understand what she was doing. Haruhi was just caught in a daze and couldn't get out of it.

K-chak

"Special order: Beef-"

CRASH.

Silence…

"Apologies for intruding!"

Slam.

With that intrusion and sound, the twenty-five year old snapped out of her daze and shoved the Hitachiin off her. Her hands flew up to her face, covering the blush that was on her face, she stuttered, "H-Hikaru-san! That-"

Hikaru only blinked as he recovered from the powerful shove. He licked his lips and just wondered what he had did. And it all clicked to him.

He just kissed his new secretary.

Hikaru felt no shame or any embarrassment; he just wiped his mouth nonchalantly. Hikaru just replied coolly to her question before the kiss, "Because…it was love at first sight."

"Y-You…" Haruhi stammered as her eyes grew wide. The blush that was just receded revived itself and turned her face bright red. Hikaru shrugged as he got onto his knees again.

"Actually, I fell in love with your résumé and your personal history, and then it was love at first sight," Hikaru said casually, as his face ventured up close to hers.

Haruhi pushed away from him before he could steal another kiss. She stammered, "W-Wait, I don't get it, Hikaru-san! You're-…the rumors. They say-!"

"You actually believe in the rumors?" he frowned at her little trust in him.

"W-Well…they had the same story and they all ended the same!"

"And you still trust it?" he asked, irritation was starting to build up.

"Many people had a say in it."

**"And you still trust it?" **he asked again, annoyance was clear in his voice. Haruhi gulped and shrunk back from him, feeling that the wall was starting to melt into her back. She felt vulnerable, as Hikaru moved closer to her.

"Uh…" she muttered as he moved closer to her, he cradled her face with a hand, and toyed with her hair. His breath now splashing on her features; Haruhi shut her eyes and squeaked. "I…uhm…"

K-chak

"Well, well, well, what have we have here?" a voice said, breaking them from the moment. Hikaru immediately pulled away from Haruhi and glared at the person who barged in through the door.

"Kaoru!"

"Oh my, I interrupted something?" he asked, his voice coated with light humor. Haruhi was staring with wide eyes, and she brought her hand up to rub her eyes.

Is she seeing double?

Haruhi knew that there were brothers who were in charge of the company but they never said TWIN BROTHERS. Hikaru pulled himself from the ground and helped his assistant up onto her feet. He sighed and tediously introduced them.

"Haruhi, meet Kaoru. Kaoru, meet Haruhi."

"So, Hikaru, have you found your _purrr_fect secretary?" Kaoru asked teasingly, nudging his brother in the ribs with his elbow. Hikaru only blushed slightly but Haruhi caught it and blushed as well.

"I-Idiot! Why do you have to ask me that?"

* * *

_'Do you need me to buy something for you?' _

_'I'm fine with what I have.' _

_'Don't you want anything? I can get it for you no matter the prices.' _

_'I'm not looking for materialistic pleasure.' _

_'Why would you say that?' _

_'Because…people who are greedy…just hurt you.' _

_'Why do you care so much about a rich, cold-hearted bastard like me?' _

_'I didn't agree to this date for a luxurious treatment…or for the unlimited things that I can buy.' _

_'Why did you come?' _

_'Your eyes were just begging for comfort. Who am I to ignore?' _

* * *

_Many weeks later... _

An adult sat boringly at his desk, his mirror image was off somewhere leaving him alone in this incredibly large room. He sighed as he only heard the continuous tapping of his pen against the glass desk.

His golden eyes flitted to the phone and then to the small button that he had personalized. Without hesitation, he pressed on the button, long and hard, before releasing it. He heard it beep.

Hikaru sat back on his reclining chair and waited. Any time now, she will walk in through that door.

"Yes, Hikaru-san?" an all too familiar voice asked, and she peeked through the door. Hikaru made a motion that signaled Haruhi to walk in. Standing right in front of the desk, she looked at Hikaru, with a clueless face on.

"What is it?" she asked, playing with the paper in her hand.

"I feel…bored."

Haruhi sighed as she turned around. She chided him gently, "If that's all you called me to come for, then I'll be going now—Wha?"

Hikaru had successfully grabbed his assistant from leaving, pinned her to his desk, and roughly kiss her on the lips…again…for the tenth time that day. Hikaru pulled away from her once they were soon going to lose their breaths; Hikaru leaned off from Haruhi and he grinned stupidly at her.

"Sorry, but I couldn't resist," he said monotonously, as he straightened out his suit from the wrinkles that were created during the sudden assault. Haruhi pulled herself from the desk and stared at him flustered.

"H-Hikaru-san, that was…too crude of you. And…again? I'm going to start ignoring your calls."

"As I said, I couldn't resist," he said, the goofy smile returning to his face. Haruhi made a small pout which resulted her to be pinned against the table again.

She gave him an accusing glare before he spoke up again, too casually, "As I said before…I can't resist you."

"You're lucky I haven't quit this job…yet," she muttered, the blush still clear on her face. Hikaru nuzzled his face into her neck, causing her to shudder. She said distractedly, "…You're not a cat, you know…"

"If you **dare** fight back, I'll have your position removed."

Haruhi's eyes twitched, and her brain tried to command her arms to not push the Hitachiin away. She murmured, "You're abusing your position as president."

"So?" he whispered, sending chills down her spine.

"I would have left already…" she challenged. Hikaru's nuzzling didn't stop for hesitation and he just replied casually.

"I'll double your pay."

Haruhi rolled her eyes, the idea of him abusing his position came back to mind. She felt a slight moisture on her neck, and she quickly said, "One more thing before you do anything to me…"

"What is it?" he asked, his breath spraying over her neck.

"Stop summoning me to your room every day in your every waking moment, Hikaru-san," she said, shivering for a while when Hikaru was doing…things…to her neck. "I have things to do, and I can't constantly be disturbed."

"Anything else?" he huffed impatiently.

"Ah…yes, the air conditioner in my office is currently broken. Can you get that fixed?"

"What's the point if you're always in _my_ office?"

"Just pointing it out, jeez," Haruhi said. She gasped lightly as she felt him nip at her earlobe. She pressed her hands against his chest, trying to stop him from doing anything else. She added, "A-And another thing!"

The nipping stopped and was replaced by an irritated voice: "What?"

"I'm done with the stacks of paper that you gave me, _oh_, and…_uhn_…H-Hikaru…san…"

"Are you done yet?"

"The rival company…_mmn_…hacked…_nn_…into your computer. Hikaru-san, stop it, I'm trying to tell you…_mmh_…something important!"

Hikaru retorted,"Well, if you're going to say it, say it fast." Haruhi rolled her eyes at his impatience. Seriously couldn't he wait?

"The rival company hacked into your computer and had stolen your ideas for the next line…"

_**"What?" **_Hikaru asked, immediately getting off Haruhi. She dusted her suit free from the wrinkles and combed her hair with her fingers. He was staring at her, all suaveness about him was replaced with a clueless demeanor.

"In actuality, they…plagiarized your designs and are putting it to work as we speak," Haruhi said nonchalantly.

"I'm going to sue them!" he exclaimed, and he dashed past her and towards the door.

He ran out the door and slammed it with a…

SLAM

Silence.

K-chak

Hikaru ran back towards her and gave a quick peck on the lips before saying, "We'll continue later. Ja!"

SLAM

Haruhi stared at the door. She sighed and shook her head. "He didn't even know which company it was…"

K-chak

"Oh, Haruhi, you're here?" the mirror image of Hikaru asked. Haruhi could tell this was Kaoru. He glanced around, golden orbs roaming around the empty room. "Where's Hikaru, I need to talk to him?"

"You missed him by two minutes."

"Why? What was he doing?"

"Oh, just running to sue the rival company who stole his designs-…wait…SUE?" Haruhi's eyes jumped open. "OH GOD! DOES HE EVEN KNOW HOW TO SUE PEOPLE?"

"WAIT! SOMEONE STOLE HIS DESIGNS?"

"YES!"

"AND HE'S GOING TO SUE?"

"YES!"

"DOES HE EVEN KNOW HOW?"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

K-chak

Kaoru and Haruhi looked at the door where Hikaru had casually walked in. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, as he smiled at Haruhi like nothing had happened. He asked, "Ehehe…Haruhi…which company stole it?"

"Yasurai Co." Haruhi said with a slight sweat drop.

It was like a bomb when Haruhi mentioned the name.

"OMIGOD, THEM?" 

Haruhi winced when they screamed at the same time. Woah…twin stereo…

"HIKARU!"

"KAORU!"

"WE HAVE TO SUE THEM!" 

They ran out the door.

SLAM

"…Hikaru?" she heard Kaoru say. She raised her eyebrow.

"Wait."

K-chak.

Hikaru ran back in and kissed her on the lips again. He pulled away, his hands on her arms. He said with a serious look on his face, "You wait right here, and I'll beat the shit out of them!"

Haruhi pushed him away from her. She obviously HAS to get used to it, or her job would flush down the toilet. She muttered, "Yeah, yeah. Do that now."

"Roger!"

SLAM

Haruhi sighed, as she fixed her suit. Letting a small laugh escape her lips, Haruhi leaned back against the desk. She tapped her finger against the glass counter and murmured, "You're so weird…Hikaru-san."


	2. Chapter 2

The Hitachiin Company had been fairly quiet of late. Usually with the normal ruckus going on, one would think that someone shot and killed everyone inside. And well...that was an understatement of course. Because very faintly there was a scream…some shrieking…and a loud slap.

"Itai," a light-brown headed adult whined, holding his red cheek very painfully. "You didn't really have to hit me you know."

The woman in front of him turned light pink; her hand over her pounding heart. "Hikaru-san, you crept up on me…AGAIN!"

Hikaru frowned as he took several steps back from her. "Well, I'm sorry…Haruhi," he said guiltily, looking down at the mess of papers that she had dropped. His secretary rolled her brown eyes at him and bent down to collect the strewn papers.

"I was just going to go to your office, and you scare me right before I even knocked!"

"Again, I apologize," he said bluntly, rubbing his cheek ruefully. Haruhi sighed as she straightened it in her hands.

"Hikaru-san…" she trailed, not knowing what to really say. But matters must be moved on to the paper works. Haruhi opened the door and walked in while saying blandly, "Anyways…the company you sued…"

He slammed the door behind him and continued on inside. "Yes, yes?"

"Well, they paid the money."

"Are they sent to jail?" he asked hopefully. Haruhi gave him a tired stare and then placed the papers onto his desks. Dragging out her words, Haruhi said, "Hikaru-san…it. Doesn't. Work. Like. That."

The older Hitachiin brother slumped.

"Anyways, with everything going on around here, I actually can't believe that I finished this stack of papers," the twenty-five year old women said, giving Hikaru an accusing glance. "You'll find everything in here done, and I filed most of the papers-…Hikaru-san, are you even listening to me?"

The young president snapped out of dreamland and blinked at her stupidly. "Huh? What were you saying?"

A vein popped on her head, and irritation grew in her voice. _"Hikaru-san. I'm trying to do my best as your secretary, so please try to cooperate with me." _

Hikaru scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, was spacing out again."

"I swear, Hikaru-san…you're playing too much these days," Haruhi muttered to herself. "Kaoru-san's actually doing far better then you in his half."

"Does it matter? He took care of all the important stuff and told me to relax!" Hikaru said, dropping into his chair with a plop. The assistant stayed silent as she watched Hikaru stay limp in his reclining chair. Seriously…this man's all fun and play.

'_It was much better when he was stressed out,'_ Haruhi thought, her eyes shifting to the side. Of course, a stressed-out Hikaru acted much more serious than the dope sitting in the chair right now. Except…when under stress, the president would take out his frustration on his secretary.

Which…is something that Haruhi found quite intolerable, but she would have to get use to his 'lovu-lovu' attitude sooner or later. "Hikaru…san…" she said. This must be how people feel like when dealing with an immature child.

Seriously…

One of the presidents of the leading Hitachiin Brand…

Plays around 24/7, excluding the time he sleeps, eats, use the toilet, and deal with annoying plagiarists…Hikaru's actually a kid at heart. And Haruhi…found that annoying…slightly.

Except…these days, Hikaru had stopped calling for Haruhi for a while and had been missing from his office whenever Haruhi would walk in. It was an irregular pattern whenever he would disappear. And also…

Haruhi couldn't help but notice that…strained smile on his face…whenever he would talk to her.

"Yes?"

"Here's the stack of papers that you have to sign," she said, slamming a large bunch of them in front of Hikaru. He raised his eyebrows at it curiously. "I already filled out the forms for you, so don't even **think** about excusing yourself to sign them later."

"And don't forget to put it in the same order, Hikaru-san," Haruhi said. "Now…is there anymore paper work for me to do?"

"In fact…I'll let you rest this day off," Hikaru said, with a con smile on his lips. He waved his hand as if dismissing her. "It's alright, Haruhi. There's nothing for you to do."

"Well, I'll be leaving." The woman gave him a glance as she turned towards the door. Right before, Hikaru could even **twitch** his fingers, she turned to look sharply at him. In a scolding voice, she commanded. "Don't. Even. Dare."

Hikaru froze as he watched his beloved walk out the door. Letting his hand fall on to the desk, he sighed at the abnormally huge stack of papers on his desk and clicked his ball point pen several times.

"There was a reason why I didn't give you anything to do…"

He bit his lower lip and looked into the air for a while; a troubled expression came on his face and his eyes narrowed slightly. Hikaru picked up the phone and stared at it for a very long time.

'…_Should I tell…?' _

After a long silence, Hikaru's fingers slowly dialed a number.

* * *

Haruhi opened the door to her office and slammed it shut once she was inside. "Hikaru-san's so hard to handle…" she sighed into her hands. Looking at her neat desk, Haruhi walked to it and sat on her chair, sinking into its cushy goodness.

After several minutes of sitting in the chair in silence, Haruhi opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. Thoughts that questioned her very position as secretary floated into her brain. Why was she here when she could have gotten a regular old job?

Yeah, Hikaru was nice enough to pick her out of everyone, and it was fate that he chose her without a second thought. The job as secretary was helping her with the tuition for Law school, but of course…

Every good job has to have its downfall, whether it's disgusting rusty toilets or annoying bosses who screech in a whole different language…

In Haruhi's case, her downfall was her boss himself. Sometimes serious, sometimes not. Always uses her as a model (on rare occasions), always does…_things_…to her. (His kisses are starting to get waaaay too passionate for her liking), asks her to get him commoner's coffee (that he found strangely addicting with the way Haruhi made it).

Why then would she stand by and let herself get harassed by one of the presidents of the Hitachiin Co.?

**Beep, beep, beep**

Haruhi's first action was to glare at the phone that was placed on her desk. No doubt it's Hikaru calling her to his office…again. Picking up the phone to her ear, she said, "Yes?"

"Haruhi, I have something I need to talk to you about."

Realizing the voice was different from its usual peppy and childish one, Haruhi raised her eyebrow. "Kaoru-san? What's wrong?"

The voice on the other line seemed to be urgent, and in a hushed voice Kaoru whispered, "Haruhi, I can't talk to you like this, but come to my office NOW."

"I'll do that."

* * *

"Yes, Kaoru-san?" she asked once she's inside the office. Haruhi immediately became silent when she saw that Kaoru was not alone. Hikaru was there, silent for the first time in a week. There was Kaoru's secretary standing by wordlessly and…

"Who's she?" Haruhi questioned quickly, her eyes directed at the girl who was clinging onto Hikaru's arm. For some reason…she couldn't help but feel slightly strange at the sight of them together. Why was she even clinging onto him in the first place?

The girl brushed her fingers through her light brown hair and gave a frown at Haruhi. "Oh dear, Hika-kun, is that _thing_ your secretary? She's so rude."

Haruhi's stare turned cold as she saw Hikaru giving her a 'just-go-with-it' look. Haruhi had to stop herself from firing a very rude comment at the new woman. Instead, Haruhi said, "Excuse me, but…what's going on?"

"Haruhi…meet Renge-kun," Hikaru said passively, while glancing at her indifferently. Haruhi's eyes widened at one point where he was starting to sound like the stressed Hikaru that she met on the first day. "She's…"

"His new secretary," Kaoru finished. Hikaru closed his eyes, unable to face Haruhi's surprised expression. Her mouth hung open and she stared in silence. This…Renge seemed to be smiling at Haruhi in this evil disgusted way. But either way…

Did she just hear…Kaoru say…

Secretary?

Hikaru's…new secretary? Wasn't she already his secretary? And the gravity of the situation smashed against her, ramming her out of her thoughts. "Wait! Aren't I your assistant, Hikaru-san? Did I do something wrong that made me lose this job?"

Hikaru shook his head and looked at her with his golden orbs. "You're still working here, Haruhi, but your position is moved. You deliver papers to people and you're in charge of monitoring one small part of the Hitachiin Co. Is that understood?"

"I…" she found herself unable to speak after that. Hikaru nodded to Renge and managed to escape her clingy arms. While walking towards the doors, he said, "Renge-kun's obviously more experienced in secretary work than you are. Your new office is located on the tenth floor. I wouldn't call it an office…but…make yourself comfortable."

K-chak…slam

Haruhi's eyebrows twitched and she looked at the door in disbelief. Why the heck? She tried so hard in finishing the papers and all Hikaru does was fling it aside and replaced her with some…some…

"Haruhi, is it?" the woman with the ribbon said with a smirk. "How sad your position as secretary is gone. Don't worry about Hika-kun, I'll be sure to be the one who takes care of the papers for him." Renge gave her a sweet smile. "Have fun in that little new office of yours, I'll be taking your spot from now on."

Renge walked to the door and gave them a wave. "Good bye now!"

Slam

"No…way…" Haruhi whispered. She couldn't believe it…at all. Why would Hikaru replace her? Didn't she do his papers correctly? Didn't she tolerate his strange behaviors? Didn't she take care of work so that his work wouldn't pile up? Didn't she straighten out his agenda?

Didn't she…do a good job as a secretary?

"Hikaru is…" Kaoru began, his sentence obviously leading to something untold. "A con artist."

Haruhi blinked several times at his sentence. "E-Excuse me?"

"A con artist," Kaoru repeated, leaning against his desk. He closed is eyes knowingly, "He's a great actor; you can never tell when he's being his true self." Kaoru smirked at Haruhi's surprise. "Even…" His golden eyes softened. "I can't tell. But it's nice for him to finally open up to someone."

'_Open…up to someone?' _

"She met him…for only one day, and he completely opened to that person."

'_Com…pletely?'_

"Spent most of his days talking to her and doing things with her…"

'_That explains why he was gone for several days…'_

Kaoru laughed softly, "I guess Hikaru…really likes her. It's so obvious." His golden eyes gleamed with amusement. "What a surprise. Never thought Hikaru would actually love another…right?"

'_He likes her…'_

Haruhi's eyes started to cloud, and the last sentence that he had said struck her. Struck her hard.

'_And not me.' _

* * *

"Hika-_kun_," Renge cooed, draping her arms over the man's shoulders. He remained emotionless from the contact and only glanced at her from his work. "I finished filing your documents, dear."

"That's great," he said bluntly, as he shifted the papers aside on his desk. Hikaru didn't rip away his gaze from the papers he had on his desk. Absently he asked, "Can you get me a cup of coffee? And don't forget to get me a jar of maple syrup."

"Mm, that'll be a definite," Renge said in a low purr, and she got off from him. That was when the Hitachiin president glanced up to see Renge leaving the room. It was eerily quiet without her around, and without anyone there to monitor him working…

Click

Hikaru placed his ballpoint pen on the glass counter and stared into the air. That look of surprise…and hurt on Haruhi's face…was…glued to his head. Hikaru couldn't even get that image out before it came onto his mind again.

Frustrated, Hikaru had to chide himself for removing his little toy from position. But he caught himself and gave an excuse for doing it. _'Renge's a better secretary, Renge's a better secretary-'_

His chant ended when his eyes swept over to his forgotten phone.

How long has it been? Two hours…four hours…one…five minutes…?

Since when was the last time he called the secretary to summon her? Feeling very tempted and out of habit, Hikaru pressed the button that was sitting idly on his phone. He waited for the speaker to come on.

"Hika-kun, I'll be right up there, so please wait," a voice answered him cheerily. Hikaru blinked and finally reality said to him: Haruhi's no longer working there. Smiling, Hikaru said to the speaker.

"Alright, Renge-kun. Please come up soon."

There was a faint giggle and the line went dead. Hikaru sighed and leaned back to look up at the ceiling. A deep sigh escaped from his lips and his mind drifted. Since when did coffee take THAT long to prepare?

_Knock, knock_

"_Come in," replied Hikaru, as he placed down his pen from the sheets of paper. The door opened to reveal his favorite brunette, in one hand she was carrying a small glass jar filled with a goldenrod liquid and in her other hand…_

"_Coffee's ready, sir," she said bluntly, before strolling over to his desk. Hikaru's face lit up as she placed down the heavenly golden-filled jar. She sat down on an extra chair in front of the desk. "There weren't any maple syrup, so I had to go down to the supermarket personally to get it for you." _

_Hikaru didn't reply but immediately grabbed the sides of the jar. Haruhi blinked at his very strange behavior, but nonetheless, she saw strangeness every day for almost a month. He peeled the glass lid off and almost dipped his finger into it, if Haruhi hadn't swiped it back._

"_Hikaru-san," she said, covering it back on instinct. "Don't devour the syrup here of all places. God, do it somewhere else." _

"_But…"_

_Haruhi rolled her eyes as she popped open the jar. "If you want syrup, how about I add it to your coffee?"_

_He stared in disbelief, "Does it taste good like that?"_

"_I don't know, I never tried." _

_He frowned. "If it tastes bad, we're having a punishment game," he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. Lucky for Haruhi…she caught his game. Pouring a decent amount into the coffee, Haruhi stirred it with the spoon she had. _

"_How about…I make you try on this bunny outfit?"_

"_No," Haruhi replied bitterly. "Why not I drink it for you, and if it tastes bad, I make a new one."_

"_But it's no fun that way!"_

_Haruhi sighed, as she readied the cup in her hands. She said blandly at the twenty-five year old in front of her, "I rather choke than you gag on it, Hikaru-san. I can be fired for sending you to the hospital for food poisoning."_

"_Still no fun," he replied in a sing-song voice. The secretary sighed at his childish behavior and took a rather large gulp of it. Hikaru was staring at her as if she would explode anytime soon._

_Drip…_

_An icky color of yellow and brown fell from her lips and she slowly put it onto the desk. Haruhi found the contents…too hard to swallow, possibly because of the foreign taste of it. _

_Hikaru blinked. "Does it taste that bad?" _

_No reply. An idea prodded at his mind, and he leaned forward towards Haruhi, his hand pulling at her chin. Asking in a seductive manner, he whispered. "Will you give me a taste?"_

'_Get it from the cup, you idiot!' _

_And yes…you guessed it. Hikaru's lips locked with Haruhi's. His tongue prodded her tight-pressed lips, demanding for the stuff in her mouth in which Haruhi refused to swallow or spit in his mouth, because either way, they're both disgusting options. _

_Feeling slightly impatient, he pinched her. She yelped, and the coffee…disgusting ol' coffee…finally spilled from her mouth. _

_Silence._

"_EW, EW, EW, UGHHHHH!" Hikaru said as he was forced to swallow it. He gagged and coughed several times. Haruhi, on the other hand, was also forced to swallow her half of it, and of course. It tasted disgusting. He wiped his tongue desperately with a napkin whipped out from somewhere. "Ew…that was just disgusting!" _

_She glared at him weakly._

'_Disgusting in so many ways…have you no shame?'_

_Haruhi had her mouth covered by her hand. She wanted SO much to throw up on the spot. Dang…if Hikaru wasn't the president, she would oh so love to throw up on him. Well, at least he ate it too…that…was good enough. _

He glanced at the clock…it's already fifteen minutes, and Renge STILL haven't come back with his coffee. He was getting grumpy and pissed. Hikaru closed his eyes. _'Damn…how long is Renge-kun going to take?'_

* * *

Haruhi stared at the small compartment that was now her office. She stared around her, there were other people there working furiously on their computers. She had nothing to do, not with any papers that were assigned for her.

After sitting on the small chair in the small cramped up work space, Haruhi stood up and decided to visit the lounge. She wanted to see what little snacks they had in the afternoon at three.

Once she walked inside of the fairly empty lounge, Haruhi came face to face with Renge. She couldn't help but notice that there was a cup of coffee in front of her and…what the hell...was that a jar of maple syrup?

No doubt, Hikaru sent her to fetch him a cup. On reflex, Haruhi briskly walked over to Renge and pulled away the cup of coffee before Renge could even pour anything in. "Haruhi! What are you doing?"

"I have to ask the same to you, Renge," she said bitterly. Renge huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. Replying hotly to the old secretary, she said, "Hika-kun wants coffee and maple syrup, what rights do you have to stop me from pouring it in?"

"Hikaru-san doesn't like maple syrup with his coffee," Haruhi said truthfully.

"Oh? And you're what? His secretary? Sorry, Haruhi, your position is gone now," Renge said harshly, swiping back the cup of coffee. "Go and fantasize somewhere else."

Her eyes twitched. "Yeah, you're right. I have no rights to stop you," Haruhi said. In an instant, she grabbed away the maple syrup and prepared to run. "But I remember Kaoru-san telling me to get this for him-"

A vein popped. "Hey! I got it first, you woman!" Renge retorted, grabbing hold of it. Haruhi ripped it away from her, causing the coffee that was held in her hands to splash over her light brown hair. "Haruhi!"

"I apologize, Renge, but he really needs it!" she said hastily, breaking into a brisk walk towards the door. Haruhi waved the jar of maple syrup in victory.

'_Now Hikaru-san won't have to have food poisoning again-'_

Haruhi stopped in her walk and stared at the jar. Why does she care about that bastard who scrapped her job? Yeah, sure, the pay from the job she currently has is just slightly lower than the one being a secretary.

Haruhi could still pay for Law School. No…it wasn't the pay.

Why the hell did she save Hikaru from the yucky taste of maple syrup and coffee? Haruhi waved the disturb thought from her mind and started to walk quickly to Kaoru's office. Even though the statement of Kaoru wanting it was a lie, she better give it to him or Renge might have her head soon. Walking to one of the halls where she had not paid attention to, she knocked on the door and opened it.

K-chak

"Sorry for intruding, Kao-…"

The man sitting at the table doing paper work glanced up at her with a curious expression. He placed down his pen and started, "Haru-"

Haruhi's breathing hitched. This was Hikaru; Kaoru was never that serious about doing paperwork. If she stayed longer…oh god, Haruhi didn't even know what to say to him. She bowed quickly and exited. "Gomen, wrong room."

Slam

There was silence, and Miyu appeared from one of the file rooms with a curious face on. She glanced at the man who was still staring at the door. "Kaoru-kun, was that Haruhi-san?"

"Er…I think…so?"

Haruhi briskly walked down the halls, flustered that she had walked into the 'wrong' room. What would Hikaru do to her now? Degrade her until she becomes a janitor for the whole building? The horrors.

_Knock, knock_

Hikaru's head snapped up from the table and turned towards the door. FINALLY, Renge came back. He didn't care if it was coffee or syrup, either one and he's fine with it. The door opened, but it wasn't Renge like he thought it was.

"Sorry, for interrupting," Haruhi said, a nervous smile on her face. Hikaru blinked. What was she doing here? Haruhi silently closed the door behind her and walked towards him with a maple syrup jar in her hand.

"I just thought you wanted this," she said, absolutely having no clue who she was talking to right now. "So I went down and got it before the jar became empty."

Silence.

'_Why the hell are you here?'_

"Uh…thanks?"

"Can I sit?" Haruhi asked more cheerily. He nodded slowly to her, slightly getting weirded out by her behavior. Once she sat down, Haruhi let out a drawling sigh. "I don't get it."

"What don't you get?" Hikaru deadpanned, taking off the lid to the jar.

Haruhi's head was lowered and she fiddled with her fingers. "Why I'm replaced."

He paused and slowly looked at her. Is she that practical to ask him that…directly? Or is she that dense that she didn't even realize why she was replaced even though he told her. Hikaru answered. "You were replaced because…"

"Because what? Did I do something wrong?" Haruhi asked her gaze now at Hikaru. "I did everything didn't I? I tried to be a good secretary, but I can't believe that I got replaced." Feeling slightly angry, Haruhi stood up and grabbed away the jar from him before he could eat anything. "You know what?"

"What?" Hikaru growled. She just took away his jar of heavenly food. /Irritation, irritation/

"I'm just going to walk back downstairs and give this thing back to Renge and LET her put the syrup in Hikaru-san's coffee!"

"Thank you so much for your time, Kaoru-san. I hope I didn't bother you in your work," Haruhi huffed in sarcasm, while making her way to the door. As a reflex, Hikaru instantly grabbed Haruhi by the wrist and pulled her onto his table. His face was the only thing that she saw, and he was pinning her on the other side of the table too.

"You really disappoint me, Haruhi," he said, staring down into her brown orbs. "We've known each other for a month, and NOW you decide to get me mixed up with my brother. I was thinking that you'd know better."

Haruhi squirmed underneath him, and gulped nervously. "I was confused slightly."

"Now tell me, **what **were you going to do with my coffee?" His sentence was so cold towards her, but there was a small…if not tiny amount of amusement in his eyes. Haruhi's eyes widened slightly.

"Hika-kun!" Renge cried once she blasted in through the doors, her hair was moist and her white suit was splashed with a coffee stain. "Haruhi, she- YOU!" Renge screeched pointing at the woman who was lying on the desk. "Hika-kun!"

Renge complained immediately running over to the Hitachiin. "Haruhi spilled coffee all over me!"

"It was an accident, Hikaru-san…"

Hikaru looked at Haruhi accusingly, "Haruhi…what did you do…"

"H-Hikaru-san, I apologized and-"

Renge pointed at Haruhi, silencing her. "And you took the maple syrup that I was going to get for Hika-kun!" His stare at her turned hard, and Haruhi found herself trying to stutter her way out of it.

…wait.

Haruhi doesn't stutter. Why is she stammering NOW?

"She was going to put it in your coffee-"

The French girl retorted quickly with a huff, "I wasn't."

"You were-!"

"Haruhi," Hikaru interrupted, looking at her with his goldenrod eyes. He put a hand on her shoulder and made a gentle motion for her to leave. "Just go back to your office."

She was stunned. Hikaru wasn't even going to defend her? Haruhi felt the little confidence that she had dwindle until there was no more. She trusted him because they were friends, and he crumpled it and threw it away like he did with her job.

This man…

Haruhi felt herself grow slightly angry, her eyebrows furrowed.

Hikaru was truly a bastard, and Haruhi hated herself for not believing it. Swallowing the hurt, Haruhi glared up at Hikaru who had an emotionless face on. Shoving the jar of syrup into Renge's hands, she said coldly, "Very well. I'm leaving."

The older Hitachiin watched Haruhi walk away and disappear through the doors. He was staring at it with a stoic face on, but…he really wanted to call Haruhi back and…

"Hika-kun, don't care about her," Renge said, grabbing Hikaru's attention. The older twin smiled at her and turned away from the door, an unreadable expression now on his face.

"Don't worry, Renge-kun," he said smoothly, as he sat back in his seat. Hikaru closed his eyes, trying to mask what his eyes were going to say.

"_I never did."_


	3. Chapter 3

Why?

Why hadn't he defended me? Hikaru-san…all those times…were they just…was he just…? What did I do to deserve this?

All those times we spent together, I really thought that he was fully content. Maybe I did something wrong in the paper work. Maybe I made his coffee a tad bit too strong for his liking. Maybe…I was a bit reluctant with him.

But…

Something else tells me that it wasn't my job. It wasn't my work…

…was it _me_?

Well. It doesn't matter now.

Hikaru-san was really playing with me. All those rumors…they were true about him. Hikaru-san's truly…a bastard, and I didn't believe it. I thought the people said wrong, but they all said the same thing.

Deep down…Hikaru-san was really a cold-hearted rich bastard. I shouldn't have accepted his 'date' in the first place. Because right now…

I feel stupid.

Stupid that I was idiotic and naïve enough to actually _believe_ him and _trust_ in him. Because like always…he torn it up in shreds and sprinkled it onto the ground with that arrogant smirk on his face. I can't look at him anymore, he'll just hurt me more than I can handle.

If I did.

I'd break.

But really…

I _really_ trusted him…

* * *

The brunette sat in her seat looking through the files that she was given. No doubt this work was far too easy from Hikaru's secretary work. She leafed through the papers and placed the manila folder back onto the desk.

Haruhi toyed with the earphones that were cushioning her ears, and she blew heavily into the microphone piece that was connected to the earphones and to her computer. The woman ignored most of the small 'pop's that the computer made whenever a pop-up would come up.

Her mind was heavy; something was eating at her. She didn't understand why…just suddenly why Hikaru would do that to her. She did nothing wrong…and Haruhi SAVED him from food poisoning!

Renge…Renge that…

_Bitch._

"Oh, are you Fujioka-san?" a womanly voice interrupted. Haruhi blinked, coming back into reality. She slowly looked up to see an older woman leaning over the top of her stall staring down at her with a beaming face.

"Yes…?" she muttered hesitantly.

"Oh, perfect! I was looking all over you-!"

"For what?"

The woman produced a notepad from her handbag and jotted several notes down. While flipping the pages, she asked very professionally, "Fujioka-san, how did you feel when you lost your job?"

Haruhi's eyes sprung open, and she stuttered. "W-What?"

"We had gotten news that you have lost your job. Why is that? Was it quarrel? Rumor has it that you were the only secretary who had stayed in the job for a month! What happened that made everything fall apart?" she inquired with a serious face on. Haruhi's mouth was open slightly and she was staring at her with a surprised face on.

"That's rude!" Haruhi exclaimed, giving her an appalled look. "Why are you asking such personal questions?"

And that was when Haruhi noticed that the woman wasn't the only nosy questionnaire person there.

"Fujioka-san, has something happened between you and Hikaru-sama?" a man asked, shoving a tape recorder in her face. Haruhi slowly edged away from him. Another person appeared behind her.

"Is it true that you two were in love?"

Another appeared underneath her desk compartment, and she nearly screamed when she popped up her head from underneath the desk. She cried, "Could it be that Hoshakuji and Hitachiin are together?"

"Do you feel heartbreak or anything of that sort?"

"Has Hikaru-san been toying with you all this while like all the others?" a man asked, while shoving away the other people. Haruhi could hear a lot of people mumbling and shouting questions that got lost within the crowd.

She heard a crack above her head and looked up.

"Tell us what you two have been doing in his office!" The man that flung from the ceiling screamed.

She couldn't retort, for something beeped in her ear. Haruhi's jaw dropped when her eyes turned to the computer screen.

/Are you two secretly in a relationship?/

Haruhi's face turned red from frustration. She had it with them; they were asking too much personal questions and questions that didn't make sense at all!

What relationship were they talking about? Hikaru and she weren't in a relationship. Why the sudden suggestion? Was this the newspaper press? Why then were they there?

"Hey! Who gave you a permission to pick on Haruhi?" a voice interrupted. Everyone exploded into small whispers as they parted to allow a certain Hitachiin through. Haruhi was so glad that he came. At least he wasn't back-stabbing like his brother was.

He gave some people a glare, and said, "Haruhi, I apologize for this. If I hadn't been busy with other things…"

"That's fine," was all she said, as Kaoru shooed away everyone away. He gave her a sympathetic look and patted her back. "Haruhi, don't feel that bad. Hikaru's…well…he's…"

"What's he doing?"

Kaoru looked away slightly and frowned.

"I don't know, but you have to know that even I'm not close to him as much…Well all I know, the press has been hot on his trail for some while."

The younger twin rolled his eyes at the people who were filing out of the room. "I had to shoo them out before they even get to Hikaru. Unfortunately…there are so many rumors floating around about my bro. Lately, Hikaru's been the reason why we've been succeeding, and these companies…" He shook his head. "They want to affect him by finding his weak point."

Haruhi blinked as Kaoru continued to ramble about rival companies planning to get his weak point and-

"Oh yeah, speaking of my brother…" Kaoru said, as he jutted his finger to the elevator. "He wants to chat-"

"Forget it," Haruhi said, turning back to her computer. "Hikaru-san…can talk to Renge."

Kaoru went silent, his face was now blank.

"No seriously, he wants to talk."

"Too bad, if he's bored let him talk to his secretary not his ex-secretary!"

"…That's **why** he needs to talk to you."

Haruhi became silent, and she stared at him. Finally after the silence, she asked, "What DOES he want?"

The younger twin shrugged as he glanced away. He muttered nonchalantly, "I'm not sure, but I guess you can help him in a way."

The brunette frowned and just stood up from her office desk. She confidently strode towards the elevators with Kaoru watching her leave. He snorted to himself and lazily hung over the compartment wall. "I think it's just pushing too far…"

* * *

"What is it?" Haruhi asked coldly once she entered his office. And of course, Hikaru was not alone. Renge was practically hanging herself over the twenty-four year old man. The dark brown haired woman's stare turned even icier. "Hikaru-san?"

"Ah, Haruhi," he replied. "Renge requested an assistant. I believe that you qualify for it."

"Is that all?" she said through clenched teeth. Hikaru dismissed her tone and only nodded. His golden eyes swept towards Renge.

"She knows what to do, so now…why don't you two go to the office?" Hikaru said, shrugging his shoulders as if to get rid of the woman on it. Renge lazily got off and strode over to the door with an arrogant smirk on her face.

"Sure, Hika-kun."

Haruhi sighed inwardly and gave a glance at Hikaru before turning away to follow Renge.

- …hours…later…

"Ahem," the Hoshakuji said after their long period of work. The fired secretary would have been happier off if Renge had stayed quiet. No doubt she's trying to rub stuff in my face, Haruhi concluded.

"What is it, Renge?"

"Just to tell you something amazing-!"

Haruhi frowned and brushed past the other brunette. "Spare me the talk," she retorted while moving papers to another cabinet. "You can talk about Hikaru-san to Hikaru-san for all I care."

Renge fell onto the reclining chair and put her elbows on the glass desk. "Oh really? Jealous are we?" The smug woman smirked, as her head was propped up by her hand. "I see where you're coming from. By the way…have you met the press? Quite annoying, aren't they?"

Haruhi's dark chocolate eyes narrowed at the woman in front of her. "Why would _I_ be jealous of Hikaru-san? He's just a rich bastard, that's all."

A glint shone in Renge's eyes, and she sneered at Haruhi. "Yes…why would you be jealous of Hika-kun? He has everything he wants after all…and he's quite happy…"

Haruhi had to force down a growl that was threatening to rumble out. Oh how much she disliked Renge…

The new secretary leaned back against her chair and became interested in her painted nails. "You know, Haruhi…" Said person glanced over at her with a blank expression on. "Hika-kun told me…"

Haruhi's eyes hardened and she frowned at the pompous girl sitting in her seat. "I don't need you to tell me. It's fine. Keep your relationship with him to yourself." The brunette turned to leave, and glanced at Renge. "You don't need to flaunt that in my face."

"Hm. How the press? Wonderful?"

"Terrible," she fired back.

The woman smiled, as she tapped the glass surface of the desk with her finger. "Yes, now that the two major companies are coming to evaluate the Hitachiin Co. the newspapers are all trying to find something to publish. Especially what is Hika-kun's breaking point…"

Haruhi turned to Renge and looked at her with an raised eyebrow. She then said, "What is it? I've heard of this...'breaking' point from Kaoru-san. What's it about anyways?"

"Haven't you heard?" she sniggered. "Hika-kun's a genius. The Hitachiin Co. flourished because of his imaginative designs. Not only focused on designs, the Hitachiins own quite a lot of other businesses and are doing very well in them. Ohtori and Suoh…those are two of the families who are at the top of the economy. Very competitive."

"Well that's just peachy," she said, turning around on her heels. "Papers are done, Renge. I'm leaving."

Renge's smile dropped a bit, and she laid her head on her hand. Absently, she said. "It's very sad...seeing how you have to suffer this ordeal."

Haruhi stopped, and her finger rest on the doorknob.

She smiled at Haruhi's back, and said in a sweet voice, "I'm just hoping you'll pull through."

As she opened the door and left, her lips silently formed the words into a whisper.

"_How sick…" _

* * *

"You idiot," Kaoru muttered, his back to the door. A small smile was on his face, and he looked at his twin brother who was gazing out the office windows. "Aren't you being a little…harsh?"

"No."

"You're so easy to read," the younger twin commented as he walked closer to his brother. "Like pages of a book. And I'm the only one holding the power to read you correctly, am I right?"

Hikaru blinked and turned to look at Kaoru.

"What do you want?"

The sly grin on his face widened, and Hikaru's eyes narrowed. "Now, I'm not here for something," Kaoru said, leaning against Hikaru's desk. His golden eyes glinted mischievously and his smile turned lax. "You're so harsh."

"No, I wasn't."

The younger brother frowned at his attempt to avoid the question. Kaoru pinched one of Hikaru's cheeks roughly and pulled his brother towards him. "Hikaru. Don't play dumb," he muttered into Hikaru's ear. "You know very well that it was."

"It hurts, idiot."

"Anyways…" Kaoru released his grip on his elder's cheek and sighed, "The press. They want to find your weak point, Hikaru. You have to be careful. I can't help but feel that they're going to resort to much more drastic actions."

Hikaru rolled his eyes, and rubbed his painful cheek with his hand. He put his elbows on the desk and stared up at his twin.

"This is stupid. I bet the other companies had hired them to scrounge for a 'weakness' when there isn't one," he muttered, while playing around with the cup on his table. "Anways. Why me? Why not you?"

"Am I a genius designer with the name 'Hikaru' stapled all over me?" Kaoru said with a small laugh. He looked down at his twin and patted Hikaru on the head a few times. "Also, you're such a handsome man, that rival companies may have sent some girls to hook up with you."

"Kaoru…you're not thinking about yourself," Hikaru sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're as smart as me, and you look exactly like me. Why the hell aren't they chasing after you?"

"Tch, your seriousness adds to your charm, brother," Kaoru mumbled thoughtfully. "I really do fret over your life now." He sighed, and rubbed his cheek dramatically. "Just having my elder brethren be chased by many corrupted women, oh woe. I'm terribly afraid for how you'll turn out. Imagine having my own blood and flesh lose his virginity to one of our rival companies' whore. The shame!"

Hikaru stared, with grim lines on his head. He looked away and muttered. "You're starting to freak me out."

"Hikaru!" he said seriously, putting a hand on the glass surface of the table. "What's with Renge? She's a B-I-T-C-H. And you know what? I have a feeling that I already hate her. She's so…ugh…pompous."

Hikaru sighed. "Yes, yes. Whatever you say."

"You're not going to scream at me for bad mouthing her?" Kaoru asked, raising an eyebrow. Hikaru shrugged in response and moved the coffee mug around in circles boringly.

"She's not worth screaming for," he replied indifferently.

"Human ice block," Kaoru muttered, sticking out his tongue at his brother. Hikaru rolled his eyes, and leaned back against the chair. "But you know…you can be very kind hearted. Still…you manage to make girls run home in tears. I can't believe you, Hikaru…"

"They're not my problem."

"How about Haruhi?"

There was a long silence, as Hikaru's eyes slid down to meet the glass table. "She…different…"

Kaoru laughed and he slid off the table, and patted his brother's head. He said comfortingly, "Don't worry, I think she can survive."

"Kaoru?"

"Yeah?" he asked, blinking at his brother. Hikaru sighed and fiddled with the pens on his desk.

"Well…you know…" he muttered quietly. "About what you said about Renge…"

The playful exterior on Kaoru's face melted away and he stared at him fearfully. Slowly picking his words, Kaoru drawled, "Yeah…and what about her?"

Hikaru's face glanced down at the table and a small tint of pink came on his face, something that Kaoru had found quite noticeable. He became quite alerted when Hikaru started to scratch the back of his hand, a sign that he was nervous.

"Well?" Kaoru said a bit louder.

"W-Well…never mind, it's too awkward to tell you. I'll tell you later…"

"Suoh and Ohtori are coming to visit," Kaoru said, abruptly switching the topic. He looked down at Hikaru; the mention of the two seemed to have snapped a switch in him. "Well? What shall we do? Our company will be hosting their visit, and they'll be looking over it for any weakness."

"Weakness?" Hikaru snorted, his eyes becoming slits. "There aren't any here, now are there?"

The younger twin leaned back and smiled lazily. "No."

"Precisely, we need to be able to pass their little…test or else they'll use our flaw and turn it against us," Hikaru said informatively, as he stood up from the table. He smirked, as he pocketed a hand into his pants. "Besides. Two brains are better than one."

Kaoru gave a wink, as his grin widened. "Exactly. And it's even better when we look the same."

* * *

Haruhi collapsed on her bed and stared at the stacks of textbooks in front of her. They had been left there neglected since a long time ago, and hadn't been touched. She swallowed thickly and tiredly reached out for a book.

With so much going on, she didn't think that she could study well for her next test in Law school. Haruhi shook her head and buried her face into a nearby pillow. Work wasn't supposed to become an obstacle in school.

All she did was apply for a job to being a secretary…

Haruhi wasn't supposed to get close to her boss at all. She wasn't supposed to heavily rely on Hikaru like a friend. He was just her boss.

'Hikaru-san likes Renge…' the thought floated in randomly. Haruhi rolled off the pillow and lay on her back looking up at the ceiling. 'Why am I caring about them now?'

'Hikaru-san and Renge. Yeah…they make a good couple.'

Haruhi blinked and covered her eyes with her forearm. 'Why am I even thinking of them? Test is more important then Hikaru-san. I have a test tomorrow and I must study for it.'

The twenty-five year old sighed and sat up on her bed and looked at the mirror that was in her line of sight. She stared at herself and finally understood; Haruhi was a woman who didn't put any effort into her appearance.

Her hair wasn't in the best of shape, and was an icky color of dark brown. Her eyes were large and deep chocolate but the eye bags underneath her eyes weren't complimenting her orbs. Also…Haruhi looked very much like a feminine man.

Her look was just…screaming 'Commoner' when put next to Renge. She fingered her hair and frowned at how /ugly/ she was. Haruhi closed her eyes and shook the thought of Renge out from her head.

However, the light-brown haired woman kept coming back to her thoughts. And then she could picture Hikaru next to her, with a small pout on while Renge fix his lopsided tie. Haruhi blinked, and shook her head.

'No…I'm not jealous. Not of her.'

However, Haruhi couldn't tell whether she was jealous of Renge or if it was something else that was bothering her. Something else with that picture…

'I have to study…' she thought firmly, flipping open the book in front of her.

* * *

-Weeks later…

She couldn't believe it. Why did she fail? Haruhi was staring at her last test that she had studied so hard for. Haruhi studied for weeks on end! She was doing so well…what made her crash? What happened?

How could she…have ended up as the twelfth highest in her class? She normally ranked higher than that. Haruhi would have scored second or third highest! Why…twelve? Haruhi stared at her progress report that she had requested to be printed out for her.

Her bar was rising until a certain point and then it came crashing down. Haruhi swallowed as she examined her report again to find any fault with it. It was the same.

'I don't get it…how could I just have failed like that? My grades were average…until now. What happened?'

Haruhi was now sitting in a park, in front of a sandy playground. She stared dully at the floor and tried to calculate why she had became twelfth place. Her job was the last thing on her mind, while she thought about her law school.

Haruhi's fingers dragged along the sand, creating small strokes in it.

'When…when did all this happen?'

Work doesn't interfere with her studies; Haruhi had told her father when he warned her about _Office Drama_. Haruhi didn't believe that someone that is very intelligent could be affected by something minor, like losing a job, that had happened.

Now…it was happening to her.

And why?

It was because of Renge. Renge stole her job; Renge framed Haruhi for something stupid; the worst thing that ever happened to her was that Hikaru believed in Renge's lie and not the truth.

A shadow crept over her and blocked her from the mellow rays of the sun. Haruhi's brown eyes slowly traveled to the person who was standing in front of her.

A hand patted her head and the person said, "Ah. Haruhi, isn't it? What are you doing here looking all dejected and lonely?"

Haruhi shrugged and stood up from the ledge that she was sitting on. She frowned and brushed her pants of the sand, while muttering. "I'm fine, not dejected and lonely. Leave me alone."

"Hey," the man said, blocking her from walking away. "Is this how you treat your ex-boyfriend?"

Haruhi blinked and casually placed the progress report in her bag and turned to look at the man in the eye. "I apologize, if I'm treating you wrong. But right now, I'm feeling quite discouraged so if you mind, leave me alone." She then walked away.

"What's up, eh?"

"Tamaki," she grumbled, as the blonde fell into step with her. "Please leave me alone. I know you're looking for another relationship, but I'm in school and I don't want to get bothered with a love life."

The blue-eyed man looked down at her and frowned sympathetically. "Love life, you say…I think you need to sort out your job life before getting into school."

"H-How'd you know?"

"All over the newspaper, Haruhi," he said gently, shoving his hands into his pocket. Tamaki glanced over at Haruhi and chuckled. "Don't be so glum. That Hitachiin always did that, I, myself can't bear to reject such a girl! Haruhi, you are too wonderful to have your job lost."

"I'm afraid it's already in the toilet."

"Nonsense!" he exclaimed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "There must be a reason why Hitachiin took away your job! You just have to know **why**!"

Haruhi gave him a stern look, and then stopped. She said stubbornly, "There is no reason, Tamaki. I'm fine, really." She nodded at him, before briskly walking away.

"H-Hey, wait!" he cried, grabbing the nearest thing which was her bag, causing her things to fall on the floor. Haruhi was frowning; she didn't want to deal with Tamaki, not now…at this stressful time. "I'll help you with that," he stated, bending down to pick up the scattered sheets.

Haruhi didn't care whether he was helping her or not. All she cared about was to get that progress report, and not have Tamaki see it or else-

"Haruhi …" came his voice. She looked at him sharply, and was preparing to snap at him. However the paper that he was reading and his slight shocked look gave her a reason to force the voice down her throat. "You…failed?"

Haruhi snatched away the paper and hastily gathered her other belongings. "Yes, I failed. What does that mean to you?"

"Oh…Haruhi …this is really affecting you, isn't it?"

Haruhi began to sweat, as she gulped. His ocean blue orbs seem to see through her, and he seemed to be frowning at her with a benevolent expression on. She sat on the floor, frowning in defeat.

Tamaki had her, he always did.

"This…and the job," he mumbled, rubbing his head with thought. "Haruhi…what's wrong?

Haruhi sighed and placed a hand over her forehead.

"I don't know anything anymore…"

'I'm practically lost.'


	4. Chapter 4

"So…Hitachiin took away your job leaving you in this…mess," the blonde said, as they were sitting in a café. Haruhi cupped the coffee cup tightly and stared at the brown pool. "I don't get it though…even though he took away your job, you wouldn't be getting such low grades…"

"Still…" Haruhi muttered dazedly, but she said no more.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, Haruhi. But…you must know that I'm going to visit the company, yes?"

"What will that do?" she asked a small snort in her voice.

"Many things, dear. Many things. I can see what's happening there…then again, your job has a high salary. I don't know how this affects you in grades…"

"I don't know," Haruhi said. She ran a hand through her bangs and sighed tremendously. "I don't even know why I've been demoted!"

"Hitachiin is one that is hard to comprehend."

Haruhi sighed and looked at the coffee in her hands. In a mumble, she voiced, "He's been playing with me in the very beginning."

Tamaki cocked his head and let out a sigh. "Hitachiin…was always like that. He's never satisfied when something great came up. He took it and destroyed the very essence of it. I don't know what he even thinks." He gently smiled at Haruhi. "Hitachiin…has quite the history. If you spend some time looking into it, you may come up with something to why his behavior is like this."

Haruhi's eyes dulled, and she replied, "It doesn't matter anymore…" Her eyes met the Suoh president's orbs. "Who would use that anyways?"

Tamaki's eyes glistened strangely and he closed his eyes, giving a smile.

"Hm. A childhood friend of mine…"

Haruhi's eyebrows rose slightly, and she looked at him interestedly.

"…who had quite the past with Hitachiin…"

"Who…?"

"Ohtori Kyouya," Tamaki said, with a small smile. "He was brought up the same like Hitachiin, so...he is unpredictable and obscure."

"…But why would this...Ohtori-san, be trying to figure out Hikaru-san's origin of behavior?"

The blonde laughed stiffly, and looked at her knowingly.

"He's not trying. He actually succeeded, and for your information….I don't have a clue why he wanted to know anyways," Tamaki said. He shrugged and leaned back against his chair. "Kyouya's that hard to understand. He's not a great friend of mine, but I know him."

"I get it," she said, before taking a sip of coffee. "By the way…Tamaki, what are you doing here? I shouldn't be seeing you around these parts…"

"Oh me? I'm in Tokyo for a reason, you know," he pointed out. "The Three Top Companies come together to have a chance to compromise with each other, but in our terms…we use this as an advantage to take note of certain weak points in one another's companies. Since, Hitachiin is hosting it; I have some time to waste here."

"…You're going to take advantage of Hikaru-san?"

Tamaki shook his head quickly, and held up his hands. "No, I'm not! I'm hardly the type to do that! Hitachiin and I don't have a conflict that great! We're just going to compromise or work out on some little problems."

Haruhi slowly gasped, and stared at Tamaki.

"But then…Ohtori-san…"

"Yeah…but…this year…he seems a bit more…less competitive," Tamaki said, twirling a stray strand of hair around his finger. He chuckled. "I bet he's wasting all his energy rebelling his sister's pesters of him getting a secretary. Really…that guy needs someone."

Haruhi blinked.

Slowly, she muttered. "So…like Hikaru-san."

"In some ways, I agree with you. But no, he's not as gentle as Hitachiin," Tamaki denied with a wave of his hand. "Well, yes, he sends women home crying. But when all goes well, when the secretary has to wake up Kyouya…all hell breaks loose."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow and looked at him suspiciously. "Why does the secretary have to wake him up?"

"You don't know?" Tamaki asked; his eyes were wide. "Kyouya is never one to wake up early, so he tends to oversleep a lot. Because he oversleeps a lot, he figured that it'd be efficient to have one compartment of his company made into his personal sleep chamber."

"That's…creative."

"But then, the secretary who has to wake him up…" He sighed. "They get fired because they catch Kyouya in a bad mood every morning. He always fires them, no matter the excuse. It's quite sad."

"Oh."

"Well, look at the time," Tamaki said, staring down at his watch. "I have to go soon."

Haruhi nodded, and Tamaki patted her hair several times. "Try not to overdo yourself, okay? Get good rest and don't push yourself over the limit."

He stood up from the table and was about to leave before Haruhi spoke up. "You know…this is why we can't be together, Tamaki. You act too much like a brother that I never had. And of course…not only a brother, you're like a mini-otousan."

Tamaki put a strained smile and forcefully laughed.

"That's true, Haruhi…I guess I have to try harder than that."

And he left her confused. Haruhi watched the blonde leave out the café and disappeared among the crowds. She gave a sighed and stood up from the chair, grabbing her cup of coffee as she left.

'So much things are going on…I wonder if I'll ever keep up with the way things are going,' Haruhi thought somberly, while heading to the door. She felt the warm contents in the cup start to slop onto her fingers.

"Wait, Young Master, you shouldn't dart out to a random café without letting us know!"

She ignored the distant voice. Haruhi groaned and took the napkin that was wrapped around the cup, and attempted to wipe the sticky liquid off her fingers while walking. She didn't even notice the hazard of wiping spilt coffee while walking.

"Don't worry about it; I'm just getting a cup of coffee, what's the problem with that?"

Haruhi fumbled with the cup, grumbling to herself about how the liquid was now drying on her fingers.

"Young Master…"

"Ara…something on the ground…?"

"Don't pick things up from the ground-!"

SPLASH

Haruhi did not realize the danger of drying her fingers while walking…

Now with a sopping wet man and her spilt cup of coffee cup on his head as evidence…

Did she realize the true danger.

Haruhi's hands flew up to her face to cover her gaping mouth and she stares. The cup on the raven-haired head's fell off and dropped onto the ground with a hollow tap. Coffee dripped down his head, and started to stain the white button up t-shirt that he was wearing.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going, and-"

The man listened to her blabber nervously, as he frowned at the light brown stain on his clothes. The older man that was following him had ran up to him and offered a napkin to dry himself up with.

"Listen, commoner," the man in a black suit said in a deep voice, as the young adult dried his hair with a cloth. "Watch where you are going next time, and we expect you to-"

The middle-aged man was silenced when the younger one held up a hand. Distractedly, he muttered. "Let's just go."

Haruhi blinked as the man gave her a quick glance before leaving, as the man following him started to question him about what the next course of action should be. The brunette bent down to pick up the cup that was on the floor.

She had attracted unwanted attention and once she noticed them, they started to walk away. Haruhi frowned at herself and briskly walked away. 'What's wrong with me?'

* * *

-Hitachiin Co…One week later…

K-chak

"Kaoru-kun…" a black-haired woman said, while opening the door slightly. Miyu politely walked in and closed the door after her, clutching a manila folder in both of her hands. "Suoh and Ohtori had departed and are now coming."

Kaoru leaned back against the chair and smirked. "Is that so…?"

"W-Well, they're coming now…Kaoru-kun…" she mumbled, the grip on the folder tightened, crumpling it slightly. The twenty-five year old stood up, dismissing her strange attitude, and kicked the chair into place. He placed a hand in his pocket and walked towards the door, pausing right before Miyu.

He placed a hand on her head, and smiled.

"Don't get nervous, Miyu. It's just a week. They'll be gone very soon."

"B-But…you're acting strange…are you affected by this too?"

"Don't worry about me. Well!" Kaoru stretched his arms and put them behind his head. "I have to prepare."

With that he passed by his secretary and left out the door. She turned around and looked at his retreating back, muttering to herself, "…Good luck."

* * *

Kaoru paused at a corner, and his ears twitch slightly as he heard footsteps coming down the other halls. His eyes traveled to his identical figure that had also stopped at the corner. His lips twisted into a smile, and he let out a purr. "So…ready, _Hikaru_?"

"Never knew that we had to dig this up…" the other replied, casually placing his hands into his pants. Hikaru's eyes slid over to Kaoru, and he smiled. "Nice suit."

"Same to you, dear."

"Hmph," Hikaru huffed as he started down the halls.

"Let's get this thing over with."

* * *

Once Haruhi walked inside of the building, she knew something had happened. The once lively and friendly work place had turned rigid and stiff…each employee hardly talking to each other. Those with nasty habits now had adopted manners, and many opted to straighten out their suits than getting informal.

'Something…' she thought, as she walked down the halls, clutching the paperwork that she worked the day before. The serious atmosphere had reminded her that the three companies were visiting for a week. The brunette treaded a hand through her hair and looked around.

Hopefully there weren't any pesky press people wandering around. The last week, she barely survived all the questions if Kaoru hadn't saved her from the mob. She glanced around the empty halls.

'I wonder what Hikaru-san is doing…'

Haruhi chided herself for thinking of him, and shoved the thought to the back of her mind.

'Why does Ohtori-san need to find the source of Hikaru-san's attitude? Is there really something behind it? I heard that Kaoru-san and Hikaru-san are twins and that they used to act exactly the same…'

The woman closed her eyes; a frown came onto his face.

'Why the heck are they different now? Maybe Tamaki was right…I should research into Hikaru-san and find out why he demoted me…'

'No…that's his business…I shouldn't-'

She rammed into something, causing her to bump backwards for a while. The papers that were in her hands flew all over the floor, scattering in many directions. Haruhi's first instinct was to…

"S-Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," she said with a bow. Haruhi didn't glance at the person as she was about to drop onto her knees to collect the papers. "I'll pick it up-"

"You."

The brown-headed woman froze, as she registered the voice in her head. Haruhi slowly looked up and immediately recognized him; she jutted a finger at him and gasped, "I spilled my coffee on you last week!"

The twenty-six year old man stared at her, and huffed, "Glad you remembered."

"I'm terribly sorry about that, I wasn't exactly paying attention," she said quickly, while starting to get intimidated by the gaze that he was giving her. Haruhi gulped and bent down to pick up the papers. "I'm really clumsy, so please forgive me for this and that incident."

The man stooped down as well and helped gather the papers. "That's hardly your fault. I also wasn't paying attention when I bumped into you. However, I do have to deduct some points on the Hitachiins for having such a clumsy…employee."

Haruhi's cheeks grew red, as she straightened the papers out. "I have things on my mind, Mister," she gritted out. The adult pushed up his glasses and gave the rest of the stack to her, and stood up.

"That's Ohtori Kyouya to you, Miss," Kyouya said, extending a hand to help Haruhi up. She took it and stood up, smoothing her skirt free from wrinkles. "And you're lucky that I didn't degrade this company further because of your mishap last week."

"It's my fault; alright, Ohtori-san?" Haruhi said. Offense was shown clearly on her face. "If you want to degrade or demote anyone, do that to me, not this company."

"Hmph, you're really stubborn," Kyouya scoffed, scratching his head. "And your name?"

"Fujioka Haruhi."

"Well…Haruhi," Kyouya muttered, smiling strangely at her. "I've heard of that name before, and sadly I was informed a lot of things about you, and trust me…many of them aren't good."

The brunette's eyes slimmed at him, as her grasp on the papers tightened. "That's nice, Ohtori-san."

"Its fine…really," he said with a wave of his hands. Kyouya tilted his head slightly, earning a glare from the glasses on his face. "Tamaki presumably told you about why we are here, you have a jumbled past with him…don't you agree?"

"How'd you know?"

The president pushed up the glasses on his nose and smirked. "I know everything," he said smugly, making known the black notebook under his arm. "All these years of looking into people's profiles don't get wasted, you know. I use them to my advantage."

Haruhi gulped, and took a slight step back. In a small voice, she forced out, "Then you know…what Hikaru-san's weakness is…"

The confident grin that was on his face seemed to widen, and he circled her like a predatory creature. "So…that arrogant Hitachiin **does **have a weakness, am I correct? I think I'll be able to pinpoint it…thanks to you."

"How do you know that he does have one? Just because I'm saying it doesn't mean that he has a soft spot for something. Besides, Hikaru-san isn't the type to have a weakness anyways…"

"Good point," Kyouya muttered. "And nice save. What I truly expected from you, Haruhi."

Her stare became intense, as she watched his smile grow larger. "S-So…you're going to use information to your advantage…right? What are you planning to do with me…?"

"Hmm, why do you ask?" Kyouya asked; his voice void of anything suspicious.

"Someone as busy as you, Ohtori-san…would not bother reading or researching about someone whom isn't of use to you," Haruhi said in a slightly shaky voice. "And of course…the media is all over the place…no one would take time off to listen to that rubbish, unless there is a topic that they are reporting about and you take interest in it."

Kyouya's eyes widened in interest, and she continued. "And…it's become a fact that this company had been all over the news…and wherever the Hitachiin Co. comes up…so do I."

"Excellent thinker," he said with a smile. "This chat with you…was rather intriguing. I think…I will consider…"

"Consider what?"

"Nothing, nothing," he said quickly, waving his hand. There was a light hum in the background, and Kyouya fished something up from his pockets. He flipped the cell phone opened and then snapped it closed. "Seems that I should go now…"

"Well then. I should go to, I've been held back long enough," Haruhi said, making a slight twist on her heels. "Thanks for the nice chat…Ohtori-san."

"My pleasure."

Haruhi watched the man walk away, and once he was out of sight, she let out a huge sigh of relief. Putting a hand to her chest, she muttered. "That was…scary…" Haruhi shook her head, and quickly. "That Ohtori-san really knows how to make someone cave under pressure."

She shuddered.

"I hope that the two are going to do fine…"

* * *

-Later…things were not going exactly well…

Hikaru and Kaoru were sitting stiffly in a room, waiting for the last person to arrive. The blonde president had strode in and attempted to talk, but miserably failed, leaving the two nothing but bored. The twins knew that the last person, Ohtori Kyouya, was a very pressuring guy.

They had been dreading this day…

K-chak

"Sorry for the long wait," the man said once he walked in, notebook in hand. He closed the door and smiled to all three of them. "Been a while since we've met…yes?"

The Hitachiins murmured a quiet agreement, while Tamaki smiled at him. "Oh, Kyouya! Been a long while! How have work been?"

"Great," he murmured, while taking a seat on a large table. Kyouya pushed his glasses up and returned the smile at the blonde. "Fired one every day, if you know what I mean." Kaoru cast a glance at Hikaru who gave a scowl in return. Kyouya ran his hand through his tresses. "They always seem to get on my nerves…"

The Suoh laughed lightly and scratched his head. Muttering, "Kyouya…everyone…gets on your nerves. Get someone who doesn't."

"Easier said than done, my friend."

Hikaru silently seethed while Kaoru leaned back against the chair with an indifferent look on.

"My you two have been so silent since Kyouya came! Would you like a word before we get on with business?" Tamaki asked, trying to lighten the rigid atmosphere that dawned upon the room. Everyone gone silent after Tamaki, and all the four heard was the whirring of the air conditioner.

Hikaru coughed and straightened his sitting posture. Taking on a calm appearance, he said. "I'd like this be over with. As usual…I don't want to have any competition…but sadly…it seems like we'll have some…conflicts."

"Yes, there will be some slight difficulties," Kyouya agreed. "To be very honest, these meetings are very beneficial…" His smirk grew sinister. "…to the host, however, it is very damaging…if we ever find out about these things."

Kaoru and Hikaru's stare intensified. Tamaki's eyebrows rose, and he cleared his voice to get the Hitachiin twins' attention off from Kyouya. "Well. Kyouya and I are going to see how we can mend some things…"

"Anyways…" Kaoru said, distractedly taking his papers. "…Suoh…we have some issues of…the problematic clashing companies underneath us."

He rubbed his chin, and nodded. "I've noticed the same thing. And the fact of who owns which part is under question…"

The eldest Hitachiin sat back and rubbed his temples. He tried to pay half-attention to his little brother and the other president, but found himself finding the headache more troublesome. Just being with THAT person gives him a migraine.

He looked up and met the eyes of the ever so cool Kyouya, who was staring back with a smirk on. Hikaru's eyebrows furrowed and he glared back.

'What does Ohtori want…with me?'


	5. Chapter 5

-This is the following night...

"Otousan, I'm home…" Haruhi called it, opening the door to her house. She walked into silence, and she closed the door behind her. Ranka may be sleeping now. It was pretty late, but then again, the man needed some sort of vacation.

'He's probably tired,' Haruhi reasoned, while walking into her room. She placed the small brief case that she had onto the desk, and threw herself onto the bed. '…Things are more stressful when Otousan came here for a visit…'

She sighed. During her hardships, her father HAD to come and stay over at her house. Haruhi already had trouble with work, and if Ranka ever sees her grades at law school…she would be screwed.

Maybe having her father there was a slight comfort. She didn't have to think that the house was all silent, and at the same time, she had to put up with his obsessions and whatnot. Her eyes landed on a peculiar parcel on her desk, and she picked it up.

A note was attached and she read it.

'_I know you're tired, and you have probably been kept at the company for extra work, Haruhi, but can you afford to deliver this to the local bar? –Otousan.'_

Haruhi hesitated, and stood up from bed. She understood that her father was a hard worker, so she didn't complain. 'I guess, I'll just go…'

The brunette walked to the door, and grabbed the keys to her house. She looked at her watch and saw that it was around eleven.

'Oh well, the trip to the bar is just twenty minutes away…'

* * *

Ohtori Kyouya was a cunning man. He would plan his steps carefully and without fault, and he would always be two steps ahead. However, that is only a small attribute of his that contributed the success of all the companies underneath his name.

There were three major leading companies, the highest of the high. They were underneath the three family names, Suoh, Hitachiin, and of course- Ohtori. Prodigious companies headed by four young men, who should have been like amateurs at their age.

Cunning and tactical planning shot all three companies to the top, and now they are clashing. Or rather, Kyouya was the one attempting to put the Ohtori name above all else.

The only thing, or person, standing in his way was the Hitachiins. Suoh Tamaki couldn't care less of being at the top; he was a…very idiotic man who cared nothing of competition.

Since the years that Kyouya had been in business, he had researched into everyone who were his rivals, and that included the Hitachiin Twins.

He had learned their habits through countless researching, looking for any signs of weakness that could bring about the fall of the Hitachiin Co.

Kyouya had noticed simple things like- when one twin has something they would share it with the other. Or how Hikaru would always scratch the back of his hand when he was nervous whereas Kaoru would only scratch the back of his neck.

It was only simple things, but as the days went by, he unraveled secrets that would benefit him…only if he played his cards right.

The night of crisp and moist and of course no one was nearby. A figure stood outside in the streets, a hood pulled over his head. A dim light showed an outline of a door, and very faintly he could hear the somber music from behind the wood.

Why was HE here of all places? Why? Kyouya was sure that being at the local bar would be the last thing on his list. However, he had done plenty of research and predicted that a certain person paid a visit to the bar. His possibilities were as little as 3 percent of the person being here. However, Kyouya was certain that on this certain day, he was there.

Making sure that the hood was completely over his eyes, the man opened it and walked into the bar. He passed the drunkards who were playing cards; he had avoided the stares from women and men alike.

His gray orbs had landed on one person, and that person was sitting behind the counter, dizzily putting a small cup to his mouth. The newcomer smiled as he inwardly thought, 'He's here…just as I expected.'

Perched on a stool, the light-brown headed man could have fallen off, if his whole upper body hadn't been draped over the counter. Calculating by the sake bottle and his ditzy looking face…

'He's drunk,' the man thought, taking a seat next to him. 'Hitachiin Hikaru won't recognize me at all...'

It was true. Hikaru was too occupied of drinking his sake than to notice some shady hooded guy next to him. Kyouya cleared his throat, and waved his hand lazily at the bartender. "Oy, can you get me a small bottle of sake?"

There was silence; only the sound of pouring and the small thuds of the bottles were heard. Kyouya played with his small bottle of sake, and he poured it into his cup. He stirred the remaining liquor in his cup before saying, "That's a pretty large drink you have there."

"Is that so?" Hikaru gurgled in reply. Kyouya could identify the strange 'psychopathic' look on his face. Maybe he was really…drunk. Kyouya would just have to push it, no matter what. Kyouya inhaled a breath; it was time to launch his plan.

"Yeah," he replied casually, grabbing the bottle by the neck. "And I wonder why you would need such a large drink…'

Kyouya smiled behind the cup as he put it to his lips. He watched in victory as Hikaru consumed a small cup. "So…what brings you out here? It's strange seeing a business person here…" He raised his eyebrow at the suit that Hikaru was wearing.

"Ohhh…me?" he murmured. "Slight problems…_you know_…"

"No, I don't, care to explain?"

"Well…" He paused to take another drink. "Sometimes…someone HAS to take some kind of rest. I mean…goldfishes die too easily…"

Kyouya took a sophisticated drink as Hikaru continued to slur about his dead goldfish. He blinked behind his spectacles.

"-an' you know what? He flushes it down the toilet! -hic- An' after three days, the fishy comes back to life! An' Kaowu tol' me that they were five hundred yen each life!"

He erupted into insane laughter, before taking another drink.

"An' sometimes the cheese is bluuuuuue, I think that they were mold…or _somethin_'…" Hikaru giggled strangely, as his eyes half-closed. "But cheese is made with bacteria…and why are fridges cold? You don't learn much from…the…books!"

He whacked the table lazily.

"Useless!"

Kyouya stayed silent, and watched as Hikaru drank another cup of alcohol. "By the way, there's something to the dust bunnies underneath my bed. I dunno, maybe the maids gotta clean it out. I have allergies, I don't think they know…But then again, it under my bed…so whazzaheck?"

'Allergies?' Kyouya thought in his head, while taking a sip. '…He's hardly babbling anything about the company…' He narrowed his eyes at Hikaru, as he begun talking about conventional soap.

"And you know, they conserve space. It's just a soap bar; I mean…why can't they come in that size? Then again, I wonder…"

Kyouya massaged his temples. 'I wonder if I should have ordered a stronger drink; Hitachiin still has his senses of what he says and what he's keeping secret…No. I can't be too impatient; I can't appear as if I'm pushing for him to tell me what I want to know.'

"If sanitizing lotion can kill 99.9 percent of germs, what happens to the .1?" Hikaru asked Kyouya, looking at him critically with his golden eyes. Kyouya sweat dropped, as he waved his hand in the air.

"I…don't know, they're…still alive?"

"Aaahhh," he drawled. "That makes sense! But did you know that the lotion can cause food poisoning?"

"No…not at all," Kyouya muttered. 'I knew it…This guy…is completely aware of what he's telling me. Underneath that stupid and ditzy demeanor is the Hitachiin Hikaru that everyone labels as 'bastard'.'

"Did you know cows can fly? Well, not technically _fly_ but they sail over the moon! 'Cus moon is made of cheese. Do you understand that? Looong time ago, when I was a small kiddie, my Kaasan always told me that cheese is possible because of COWS!"

'What's his problem with cheese?'

"I kind of like pocky; the box makes a wonderful decoration, no?" Hikaru asked, grabbing the neck of the alcohol.

"I hang them around my room at home! There are so many pocky to choose from! There's a green tea pocky-" He suddenly paused, and stared intently at the drop of liquid that was hanging onto the bottle for dear life.

Plip

"Terribly sorry, but I believe I drank most of this without sharing…" he said with a goofy grin on his face, handing to Kyouya the empty bottle. He wordlessly received it and grumbled inwardly. 'He's not saying anything…'

"That's alright," Kyouya said. He waved over a bartender, and said. "Give me one of the strongest drinks you have."

The man looked at Kyouya and thought he was crazy or something. People normally wouldn't order for a strong alcoholic drink and expect it to come cheap.

Kyouya's impression only gave off the air that he was just a normal guy wanting to get drunk and get a major hangover the next day. And so…the bartender didn't complain and placed a thin open bottle in front of him.

"Those things don't come cheap," the man said, hoping that Kyouya would consider it and ask for something else. The raven-head waved his hand, and muttered.

"It's fine." He said, taking a small cup. Kyouya poured in an amount and brought it up to his face. Of course he was fine; Kyouya had loads of money in his pockets. He took Hikaru's cup and began pouring it in. "Here."

"Can't…impose…"

'Tch…'

"Really," he insisted, while putting the cup on Hikaru's side. He pushed his container of beer towards the middle of them. "There's too much of it anyways…I might not be able to drink it all by myself…"

"…if you say so…"

"Anyways…you were saying about the pocky?"

"Ahh yes," Hikaru said, gulping down all the liquor in his cup. "The pocky…" He giggled. "I staple them to my wall and den it's like…beautiful!"

"Strange…"

"An' 'den 'dere are many flavors to choose from," he continued, pouring a cup in. "An' of course, I carry a box aroun' wit me wherever I go." He held up a finger. "Didja know that the pocky sticks are made possible because of bread? And then bread goes back to yeast, and yeast are made of bacteria- Ohh. Bacteria…they exist in the world."

"Yes, I would say so myself."

"Bacteria also make diary products available, like _cheese_. But then again, there're pathogens and…and…what was that thing called? Endospores…dere're bacteria too. A bad type of bacteria. I believe that the process of getting yogurt is quite disgusting."

'This man has been blabbing nonsense for how many minutes? And for some reason he always finds a way to relate back to cheese.'

"Yogurt uses bacteria to become yogurt."

Kyouya blinked.

"Because…we are like yogurt. We need someone to help us to become…yogurt…"

"And that is bacteria?"

"Yes! As well, we are also like…cheese. Cheese…it's kind of random, right?" Hikaru laughed hollowly. "It's so random…-hic-…"

"…_Cheese_."

"An'…I kinda forgot what the point of all that shit was, but whatevers," he said, waving his hand around. "It's easy to grow a plant but hard to kill it. Or was that the other way around? Oh yah, my goldfish died again. That was my 60th fish! And now Kaoru will use five hundred yen to buy another life for it, adding to all the fifty nine lives that I killed!"

Kyouya stayed silent as he sipped up another drink.

"Whoopie-doo! And didja know that I like fishing? I have a pond in the backyard, and I try to fish for fishies! They swim away though…" He made a face. "Did they not see a worm before in their life before?"

* * *

-Sometime later-

"Didja know that stuff animals are treacherous monsturs?" he giggle. "I 'member I used to have a fwiend who was scared of tem. –hic- It was sho fun to spite the poor guy. –hic- _Woow, I feel kinda light-headed! –_hic-"

His head smashed onto the counter top.

"Yeah, me too. –hic-" Kyouya muttered, as he slumped onto the counter. He moved his head so that he could see Hikaru. "So…you seem slightly stressed…anything happening with your job? Fired or something? –hic-"

Hikaru laughed, his shoulders shook. He got off and fed himself another cup. "Tch, why be fired? I'ma boss…"

Kyouya hiccupped, as he grinned. "Is that so? Now I can understand that, bosses have stress, isn't that right?"

"Nope, work is a no-no," he said somberly. Kyouya raised an eyebrow at Hikaru, as he continued. "-hic- Emotional stress or sumthin'…"

"Emotional?"

"Yeah…lately stuff has been stupid. 'Dere's t'ese stupid women showing up on the door step to the company. –hic- But I dun hire them; the bitches…dere're too stupid and damn cocky."

"Why's that?"

"Ohhh, dun you know?" Hikaru asked, wavering in his seat. "Bitches like 'tem are **CONSTANTLY** at my neck. Like-" He adopted a girly demeanor. "Oh, Hikaru-kun, pwease buy me tis! I luff you forever –hic- and evah!"

Hikaru snorted. "Pain in da ass, if you know wut I mean."

Kyouya nodded slowly, swishing the liquor inside of the small cup. "Women are like –hic- that."

"But den, it figures out dey're aftur my money…so you know what I do! I…fire them!" Hikaru took a small sip and continued in a strangely quiet voice. "It's strange…like…out of all the stupid women… -hic-…'dere was…onleh…one…"

Kyouya's interest was snagged, as he raised his eyebrow at the twenty-five year old. "One what?"

"…'dere was onleh one woman who didn't ask for anytin'…at Ginza…"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah!" he muttered while carefully watching the liquor pour into the small white cup. "And sho…I hired her…"

"Is it Fujioka Haruhi?"

"Yep!" Hikaru looked at Kyouya dizzily. "How'dja know?"

"It's all over the newspaper," he replied casually, while distractingly sticking his tongue out as the drops of remaining drink fell on it. Hikaru sighed as he cradled his face with his hand. Kyouya noticed the strange change of attitude and stared at him in curiosity.

"Well…ya know…I kinda made her…um…hate me."

"M-hmm?"

Hikaru slapped his hands to his face and sank onto the counter top. "Dammit, I'm sho stupid." He mumbled something incoherent and then poured in another cup. "Yesh…I 'member why I'm 'ere…I wunder if Kaowu…tink I'm misshing…"

"Oh, is she your girlfriend?" Kyouya asked, although he already knew who he was. Hikaru shook his head and pounded his head onto the wood several times. '...?'

"Kaowu…is my twin…brother. He's workin' now," Hikaru muttered. "He doesn't know I'm drinking."

"Ah," he muttered. 'So…the younger Hitachiin has no clue…is that so?'

* * *

The bar was as shady as it could ever be. Haruhi opened the door and made her way inside. It still had its somber music, and it had dimly lit lights. Many array of liquor bottles stood behind the counter as well the bartender, who was serving drinks to people and collecting the money.

Once Haruhi neared the counter, she saw the man's eyes light up and wander towards her. "Oh, did Ranka-san send you here?"

"Yeah, and I believe this goes to you…" she said, handing the parcel to him. The bartender received it and looked at it with an approving nod.

"Just wait for a while, as I fetch a receipt…"

The middle-aged man left the counter, and Haruhi took the time to look around. She didn't like the way how some drunk men looked at her, and she wanted to leave as soon as possible. Haruhi tapped her shoe against the floor and as the bartender returned she mentally rejoiced.

"Thank you for the delivery," the man said, and he dismissed himself. Haruhi pocketed the crisp piece of paper and set about walking away before something caught her eye.

* * *

"…shuddenly I dun feel so good," he mumbled, his head rolling on the table. Kyouya's eyes gleamed behind his glasses and he smiled, as he placed down his cup onto the table. "Mebbe, I shouldn't have drank sho much…"

"I saw the newspaper concerning you and this Fujioka…what's with that?"

"I dunno…mebbe I've been too worrie' of late," he sighed, putting his hands on his head. "I shoulda realized it, but dere's no way of goin' back…"

Kyouya only sat there, patiently listening to him.

"I shoulda...but I sacrificed it 'cus of my own selfishness, I gotta learn…" he muttered. "It was da onleh way…to learn. As long…as dere's happiness…" Hikaru fell onto the counter tiredly, hiccupping occasionally.

'Egh, he's really drunk,' Kyouya thought, feeling guilty. 'I already got enough information from him, and with it I can conclude what this guy's weakness is.' He placed yen on the counter and stood up from the stool. 'I should take him back to the Hitachiin Household, seeing how drunk he is…'

"Eh, Hikaru-san?"

'Shit,' Kyouya thought, as he pretended that he was just leaving. He slipped something into Hikaru's pocket and quickly walked away, tucking his hands into his pockets. 'No matter, I found out many things, and his zero tolerance for alcohol is only one of the things I found out.'

She couldn't believe how and why Hikaru had been at the bar. Imagine her surprise when she saw her boss hanging limply on the counter, mumbling inaudible things. Haruhi placed a hand on Hikaru's shoulder and moved him slightly so that she could see him better in the light.

"Why are you here, Hikaru-san?" she asked worriedly, trying to shake him out of his drunken demeanor. Haruhi frowned at how red his face was. She couldn't just leave him there…he was drunk!

Haruhi glanced around looking for any signs of his brother. Nope, none, nada. She gulped and helped him out of his chair. Hikaru's legs failed to support him, and she started to cave under his weight.

"Hikaru-san…can you please…?" she mumbled, while putting his arm around her neck. He didn't respond, but only laid his head on her shoulder. Haruhi blushed but only a little. 'Leaving him here is too dangerous. If he's drunk, who knows what he'll do…or what others would do to him. I can't contact Kaoru-san now…No, I have to take him home with me.'

She tried to drag Hikaru to the door, and she murmured under her breath. "Why was Hikaru-san out drinking anyways?"

* * *

Kyouya sat in the seat of his limousine, looking out the window. He had been quiet ever since, and when he was quiet that would have meant that he had a lot on his mind. He couldn't help but feel slightly guilty of leaving a drunken Hikaru there.

He was very aware of how people would jump the chance to take advantage of a rich man like him. Kyouya pushed up his glasses and reached inside of his jacket pocket, fishing out a cell phone. He flipped it open and scanned his phonebook.

He clicked the 'down' button until the blue highlighted a name…

'Hitachiin Kaoru…'

Kyouya pressed a button and put the phone to his ear, listening to the series of beeps. And finally-

"This is Hitachiin Kaoru speaking."

"Ohtori Kyouya," he said briefly. Kyouya could imagine Kaoru's eyebrow knit together at the name, but he, at the moment, didn't care. "Just a nice message to you that I found something interesting at the Yakume Bar."

"…And what do you want me to do?"

"Oh…nothing," he said. "If you want to check up on it you can. Oh…and by the way, Hitachiin Hikaru has absolutely zero tolerance for alcohol."

Beep.

He leaned back and pocketed the cell phone. 'That should do it…all I hope for is the Fujioka to take care of him.'


	6. Chapter 6

Kaoru slowly brought down the phone from his ear. He came up with many conclusions and possibilities that led from the conversation that Kyouya had with him. First off, his mind clicked to: 'That dirty rat-! He's so low to take advantage of a drunkard!'

And then another thought clicked in: 'Omigod. What WAS Hikaru doing at the bar?'

After sitting on his office chair for ten seconds, he clenched his fist together that the phone almost cracked. 'Wait…Hikaru was…_**drinking**_?'

"That's a lot of faces you made in the past minute, Hitachiin," an amused voice chuckled. Kaoru's eyes slowly dragged to the source: Tamaki who was leaning against the door. "Let me guess who that was…Kyouya?"

"Yes, it was him," Kaoru muttered in a low voice as he stood up. "Excuse me, Suoh, but I have to go somewhere now."

"Really? I thought that you weren't done with your work?"

'Erk…' Kaoru thought. He glared at the stack of paper, wanting for it to…burn. "Well, there proves to be a problem where Hikaru…purposely misplaced himself."

Tamaki raised an eyebrow at Kaoru, as he pushed himself off the wall. "How could he 'purposely misplace' himself…?"

"You don't want to know," he sighed.

"Why don't I come with you?" the twenty-six year old offered, as he followed Kaoru out the door to his office. "It's better searching with two people instead of one."

Kaoru couldn't object to that. They walked quietly down the halls, and once they were in the elevator alone, Tamaki glanced at Kaoru and asked innocently, "So…tell me what you're planning to do with Haruhi?"

* * *

K-chak

Haruhi slowly maneuvered both of them inside as quiet as possible. She knew that if her dad would wake up and see her bringing home some guy, he would lecture her…or execute the visitor.

And if Ranka cuts off Hikaru's head, then Haruhi would lose her job…

…and get sued.

…or sent to jail.

Good thing for her that Hikaru stopped mumbling incoherent thoughts into her ear or else, someone might hear. She took small steps toward the living room; Hikaru's head was rolling on her shoulder every so often.

Haruhi placed the man onto the couch and let out a deep breath; she traveled inside her room to find extra blankets for her boss. Hikaru, on the other hand, collapsed onto the couch, asleep.

'I can't believe that I'm actually taking care of Hikaru-san…' she thought to herself, a sweat drop evident on her head. Haruhi knelt on her knees and opened a cabinet door. '…He's…I don't know…'

She ended the thought, gathering up blankets into her arms. Haruhi stood up and left her room quietly, careful not to make any noise so that Ranka would wake up. Once Haruhi appeared back out, she had to laugh slightly at Hikaru's drunken stupor.

'So much like a kid…'

Fixing him in a comfortable position, Haruhi pulled the sheets over him. She sat on the floor once she was done; her brown orbs stared at the man who was sleeping in front of her. 'Why do I always seem to think of Hikaru-san?'

She brushed back a stray strand on light-brown hair that was on Hikaru's forehead. 'He looks so innocent when he's sleeping…'

Haruhi stared at him, and felt something burn on her cheeks. Haruhi shook her head, attempting to fling it off. She covered her face as if it would help cease the blush that seemed to be permanent.

'I should just forget about him,' she sighed, '…what was I thinking? I'm just…a commoner, he's a rich bastard,' Haruhi thought as she stood up from the floor. She gave one last look at the sleeping Hitachiin before walking inside of her room

* * *

"Why do you ask that?" Kaoru finally spoke after a half an hour of silence. He looked over at the blonde who was sitting next to him in the passenger seat. Tamaki seemed to be smiling to himself in triumph, and he said.

"Well, all people are nosy. It just came to me that something was highly fishy going on."

Kaoru's stare at Tamaki turned intense. "If you knew it wasn't your business, why look into it?"

"I don't know," Tamaki laughed, as he brushed his hand through his blonde tresses. "Haruhi…seemed to have trouble with life, so I just wondered what was wrong with her and her background. And woo…I found something."

"And you found…?"

Tamaki's annoyingly fake disarming attitude didn't let up, and he leaned back against the seat leisurely. "Oh…I found many things. A commoner like Haruhi has stuff all over the databases. It's just so easy to tap into."

"…You're saying that you researched…"

"Like all nosy businessmen."

"Tell me, what did you find?"

Tamaki's looked at him with his ocean blue eyes. "Am I supposed to say...what you already know?"

"It's serious, Suoh," Kaoru warned.

"Okay, okay. Cut me some slack, I'm just a nosy idiot who just is just concerned about his ex-girlfriend," the blonde admitted. Kaoru stared as silence consumed the whole car. He allowed the fact to sink into his head.

"You're…Haruhi's…ex?"

Tamaki grinned, as he replied, "Yes, I am, and it doesn't seem like we'll get back together…And you see, I look out for Haruhi's welfare. Lately, she hasn't been doing well. I think both of you Hitachiin twins know that."

The younger twin stayed silent, as the blonde continued talking.

"And half of the problem stems from the Hitachiin Co."

"You're veering off the subject, Suoh," Kaoru murmured, with a cold edge to his voice. The twenty-six year old put up his hands as if it would defend him from the mental attacks that were shooting from Kaoru.

"Well, I am off-topic. But in some ways…I am," Tamaki said, while scratching his head. "Anyways…what I have found out that the source of this…'problem' was Hitachiin Hikaru." Kaoru bit his lip; he tried to see what was real expression behind the smile on the blonde's face.

"I know what you're saying," Kaoru said, letting out a slow breath. "You hypothesize that Hikaru's in the middle of this entire shit-bound plot, excuse my language."

"No," Tamaki chuckled, causing the other to raise an eyebrow at him. "Haruhi is."

Kaoru stayed silent, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"If you have noticed, she's the one who is truly in the middle of all this drama," he said informatively. "There's so much pressure. Law school…work…she had been demoted; another replaced her…that's a lot of things to be handling all at once. A normal human can't hold that much."

He stayed silent, listening to Tamaki taking in a rattling breath.

He turned to Kaoru and said, "Bit by bit…she's breaking." His violet blue eyes shone as his cheerful smile turned threatening. "If I see her in the state where she's shattered and stepped on, I _will_ take violent measures against you."

Kaoru closed his eyes for a brief second and reopened them. He gave a con smile at Tamaki. "Excuse me, but…" He tilted his head at Tamaki with his smile in tact. "Are you threatening me?"

"I've already seen her like that once, and if I do see her in that state where it's beyond repairs…" he trailed, leaving the words on his tongue. Tamaki shook his head, as if Kaoru would have understood the unsaid threat.

"I've done whatever I could. And if she's completely broken…I can't take her and repair whatever's broken. Haruhi is…on her last line. I'm not expecting you to stop what you are doing…but…I'm warning you...One more mishap, and I'll be up in your face," he muttered in a low hiss. "Hitachiin, it's your last warning that I'm giving you."

"We're here," the chauffer announced as the car came to a complete stop. Once he got out and made his way to the back to open the door, Tamaki turned and smiled at Kaoru, ignoring their past conversation.

"Now let's find that 'misplaced' Hitachiin, shall we?"

* * *

_Haruhi stood in a field of darkness, the blackness stretched endlessly in all direction. She glanced around, expecting signs of life. However, a yell interrupted her, and she was surprised to see herself on her knees. _

"_Why are you treating me like this?" she yelled. _

_Haruhi stared at herself, and then at the person who was standing in front of her. An invisible wall separated the other two, leaving her own image to scratch and claw at the barrier. _

_Tears leaked out from the clone's eyes and she clenched her fists tightly. "Did I ever deserve this? Didn't you push too far?"_

_The brunette was surprised what she was saying. And to whom? Haruhi couldn't see clearly. _

_Haruhi stared at her own form. She was pleading, and desperate. _

"_Please! I'm begging…" she sobbed, sinking onto the black-surface ground. Haruhi didn't know **who** she was speaking to…and **why** she was saying these things. "Did I deserve…to live in such a place like this?"_

_She scratched at the barrier that kept her in the dark and away from the shimmering light which flickered so far away. She was caged…alone. Glass hung in the air, suspended…not moving. Haruhi wrapped her hands around herself, and cried quietly._

_The figure standing away felt her breathing catch at herself. _

_There 'Haruhi' sat._

_Alone._

_A silhouette was staring at her. Eyes boring into her very skin, but they were frozen of emotion. He stood there, hands unmoving inside of his pockets; he never dared to fish them out to offer a warming hand to her._

_Because it was cold. _

'_Just like his heart…' Haruhi thought, clenching and unclenching her hands._

"_Tell me…" the other spoke softly that it was hardly even a whisper. "What…is wrong with me…What…made you march further into my breaking point? Why? Why are you so…cruel?" _

_He did not open his lips to speak. He only stared at her with dull and cryptic eyes that never told the truth. 'Haruhi's' fingers were tender from the clawing, and she allowed her hands fall limp to her side. _

_She was already broken mentally…and emotionally. But that bastard…kept pushing forward; he took every shard of her and broke it into even smaller pieces, until what were left were only fine grains of what it used to be. And she couldn't take it anymore that she just wanted to scream, but she couldn't bring herself to do it._

_And it just whacked her like a ton of bricks. Was this state…something that Haruhi didn't notice? Or something…that she was trying so hard to avoid._

"_I…**love** you, dammit," she confessed, shutting her eyes tightly. Tears dripped from her eyes rapidly, and she shook her head; the bangs swayed in her face. _

_Haruhi stood still, her breathing stopped. Her brown eyes were wide with surprise. 'I…I…loved him…?' _

"_And I kept falling for a bastard like you," she yelled, "Just break me already! Break me, toss me, wound me! I don't care anymore! Isn't that what you want?" _

_A gentle hand rest on her cheek, the warmth gradually spreading through her cold body. She looked up as Haruhi looked at the owner of the hand. _

"_Do you really think…that's what I want?"_

**-BEEEEP-**

Chocolate-brown orbs snapped open wide to meet the dark ceiling above. She placed a hand over her beating heart, which was the result from her nightmare. Haruhi felt her face sticky from sweat and she breathed heavily.

Although she tried to remember the dream, it didn't come back to her. It was lost once another beep interrupted her, and her eyes searched for the source.

…her cell phone. Groggily, she narrowed her eyes at the blinding light from the screen as she took it. Flipping it open, she answered, "Hello? Fujioka Haruhi here."

"Haruhi, I'm so sorry for disturbing you while you're asleep," the panic-ridden voice said quickly over the phone. She raised an eyebrow at the tone, and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"What's wrong?"

"Well…there's many things that went wrong. First off, is Hikaru there with you? Is he okay? The bartender told us that a woman took him away. That better be you right? After all you live pretty close by," Kaoru said in a stream of questions. Haruhi closed one eye tiredly, as she deciphered another voice that interrupted, "–Wait up, Hitachiin-"

"Hello?"

"Sorry. Hitachiin's just going into a panic because we can't find the older twin," the new voice said. "Are things doing fine over there? I suspect that you have everything in control, right? –She better be!- Just to let you know, you're on speaker."

"…Right," Haruhi replied. "Yes, Kaoru-san, Tamaki. Hikaru-san is here, and he's sleeping."

She heard a sigh of relief on the other line.

"Haruhi…I hope I'm not imposing…-You are.- Shut up…Anyways, can you take care of Hikaru for me?"

"…Why?"

"Well you see, I let Hikaru off for today, so I took on most of his work. And with all the work, I can't really care for him and finish the work on time. So can you?"

"It's fine…"

"That's great! Remember to get him sober again! –I believe, she doesn't know how…- Yeah, do you have any coffee? Coffee works great on Hikaru when he's…uhm…drunk. So...I'll see if I'm not stuck at work tomorrow morning, and if I'm not, I'll come by over and pick him up."

"That's good," she murmured. "I'll see you tomorrow then…"

"Thank you so much."

* * *

"It's fine, Kaoru-san."

"Oh yeah, tomorrow's a Sunday, and you must be pretty tired. I'll let you sleep in late, and you can come to work around noon. How does that sound?" Kaoru offered. He saw Tamaki raise his eyebrow at his suggestion.

"Mmn, it's good. Thank you, Kaoru-san."

"Yeah, get a good rest, okay?"

"Mnyeah. Night."

-Beep-

"What're you planning?" Tamaki asked. Kaoru sighed as he closed the phone.

"Suoh. Relax. I'm just giving her a vacation," he said. "Do you doubt me that much?"

Tamaki closed his blue eyes and sat in the passenger seat silently, before he reopened it. "Why yes, Hitachiin. You're full of surprises, aren't you? Given that you're so young and yet you could manage such a big company." He placed a hand on his face and sighed over-dramatically. "Makes me feel very old."

Kaoru gaped at the blonde who somberly stared out the window.

"Hikaru and I, together, are fifty years old, you know..."

"Combined ages don't count. Stop cheating."

Kaoru only snorted, a smile coming onto his face. He smirked at Tamaki who was staring at him weirdly. "So are we on good terms…for now?"

"Yeah…I think you two have a pretty clear idea of where this is going, and I'll trust you."

There was a long silence, as the car ride drove on. The blonde Suoh stretched and looked out the window, he murmured wistfully, "This is a game. The world…is a playing board. We're part of this game…we're pieces…"

"Is that what you concluded?" Kaoru asked, a smirk on his face. The older man shrugged half-heartedly and turned to look at the golden-eyed businessman. "Because…it seems much like you figured much of it out."

"I'm just relating this to something."

"Mm-hmm, go on," he hummed.

"We…are pieces of your game; however the only unpredictable piece…is Kyouya."

The other smiled to himself, as he scratched his light-brown hair. Kaoru tapped the seat cushion absently as he said, "That's true, Suoh. The board that we're playing on is now under the control of us Hitachiins. One false move and Ohtori controls."

"Is that what you intend?"

He shut his eyes and breathed several times. Kaoru turned to the window and stared up at the city lights.

"…Who knows..."

* * *

"Ohtori-san, any more coffee?" a maid asked, after she had knocked on the door. She journeyed to the bedside table to pick up an empty metal tray, and at the same time, she asked the man sitting on a chair, "How is your research doing?"

"Quite fine," Kyouya murmured. He sipped from a cup in his left hand, and used his right to tap some words onto the multiple of screens. "By the way, more coffee would be good. Thank you."

She nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Kyouya staring at the screens. His glasses reflected the lights coming off the six screens, and he leaned back against the chair. On the screens were many different open databases.

He tapped the mouse several times, before he clicked on another monitor. A pop-up box appeared, and he clicked a button on it. On cue, all six screens switched to grayscale and showed different aspects of a certain street.

Running on the corner of each monitor box were numbers and dates. However he didn't care about it and his raven-eyes only traveled after the two subjects of each screen. Hikaru and Haruhi.

Kyouya's glasses shone as a smile made its way onto his face. 'So…Fujioka got him alright. And knowing her, she would give him a place to sleep.' He held his tea cup and drank the lukewarm coffee. He watched Haruhi make her way to her apartment and both of them disappeared inside.

He sighed as he leaned back onto his chair. Kyouya stared up at the flowing document on the top screen. 'Mmn, that's right…I'm betting everything on this theory,' Kyouya reminded himself.

'If it proves correct…I have a huge advantage.'


	7. Chapter 7

…_Dreams are sometimes the reflections of our subconscious feelings…_

* * *

To be plunging in nothingness...

She doesn't know where she will go. She doesn't know what to do anymore. She's just falling into some place that's already designated for herShe has been going downhill all this time; her emotional stature is falling apart.

-I'm watching _myself_ die. But _I _am not noticing it.-

Slowly, she's crumbling.

But quickly, she's falling.

Falling with no one to catch her at the end.

She doesn't know when she'll stop; she'll keep going…and going.

She doesn't know who would be willing to catch her in the end. She's fully convinced that she's falling alone, and that she will land alone. There would be no one down at the bottom. No one wants to catch her, or there is no one available to. She has no one.

No one to catch her, hold her, cradle her, care for her, _love_ her.

She's a withered flower. No one's willing to nurture her back to the way she was. No one wants to look at her because her beauty's gone, and she lay dying on the floor. She's dying, everyone says, she will not make a comeback. She's beyond repairs, they would say. With that being said, they would trample on her more.

-_I_ couldn't do anything but let them do as they want-

She's lost and drifting in the sea of emptiness, and all she does is stare out into blankness. She's waiting…but for what? She's wanting…but what? The reason is unclear…but maybe she's yearning for something…_someone_…to acknowledge her, and take her from this mess.

Because she never deserved it in the first place.

-How could _I_ continue living?-

Why would she never notice her own feelings?

* * *

It was morning on Sunday. Birds were chirping loudly outside, and light fought its way in between the goldenrod curtains. She ignored all these signs that signaled that it was late morning. Haruhi felt no need to get up and begin her tedious routine of getting ready for school or for work. She in comfort in her large bed, under her blankets, and was all snug and warm with an extra pillow or something on her chest.

Haruhi shuddered as a small breeze carried into the room and blew over her bare arms. She wrapped her arms around the pillow and snuggled it warmly.

In her mind, something was clicking in her head. Something that was just screaming: Otousan…Hikaru-san…Otousan visiting…Hikaru-san sleeping in the living room…Otousan early bird…Hikaru-san drunk last night…Otousan awake…Hikaru-san…might…be…

Her brown eyes snapped open.

-discovered.

The first thing she saw was a mass of light-brown. Haruhi blinked once, twice, three times. Something tightened around her waist and held her tightly; Haruhi thought it was something that was part of her dream. Perhaps, she was just fantasizing and was still half-asleep. Haruhi was about to be convinced that it was just a large stuff animal that Ranka had snuck into her arms.

She was terribly proved wrong when she felt the pillow make the faintest move steadily. The stuff animal on her chest…_breathed_.

It took her half a second to realize that the animal breathed. It took even a _longer_ time for her to register that it wasn't even a stuffed animal-! And it took a quarter of a second for reality and the word 'Pervert' to get into her brain.

Shivers climbed up her spine as a very girlish shriek exited her mouth, and she kicked the 'pervert' off her bed and onto the floor with a thud. Haruhi clambered to the edge of the bed to peer at who had snuck in her bed, while clutching a pillow for protection.

She wasn't wearing enough clothing to cover herself up; Haruhi mentally chided Ranka for replacing her normal t-shirt and pants for a silk dress to sleep in.

"Hikaru-san?" she gasped, but her attention was ripped away from him when the door sprang to life.

"Haruhi?" the door started to open. The woman panicked; if Ranka saw a man in her room, he would give her a very long lecture. She had to hide him, but the door was slowly opening. So Haruhi did the next best thing—

-she rolled off the bed and landed on Hikaru dragging with her a large blanket to cover him up. Haruhi heard a groan under her, as she straddled the side of his stomach, while unfurling the blanket around his feet. Haruhi grabbed the pillow and smashed it against Hikaru's head. Hopefully, he wouldn't be seen.

'I _really_ hope he doesn't fire me,' she pleaded in her head, with a soft tired sigh.

K-chak

"Haruhi, are you okay? I heard you scream from next door and I wondered if you're all right," the red-headed cross dresser said. Haruhi sweat dropped, and smiled at her father, keeping the pillow firmly on Hikaru's head.

"I'm fine, Otousan," she said very casually. "I thought I felt something crawl on my arm, but I'm fine now!"

Ranka shifted uncomfortably side to side, and his long purple skirt swayed against his legs. He asked worriedly, "Are you really okay? Have you been violated yesterday at that bad, bad bar? If so, I could march over there-"

"There's no need!" she protested. Haruhi's thought started to wander to Hikaru, and she wondered if he lost any air. "Uhm, Otousan, where are you going today?"

"I was going to shop—"

"Great! Can you please refill the refrigerator?" Haruhi asked, a con smile on her lips.

"I was going to do that-"

"Also, I have to go to work, so if you could go off and spend some time with your friends, it'll be fine!" Haruhi said. Ranka didn't seem like he would buy the excuse. He didn't actually look convinced, but Haruhi's constant and stubborn smile made the okama retreat back outside.

"Okay, I'll be going now. Be careful on your way to work," he said, before leaving. Haruhi stayed in the position until she heard the door outside open and close, leaving her in complete silence. Something patted her bare thigh, and she jolted; Haruhi's hands flew up to her mouth to suppress the small squeak.

She slowly removed the pillow from him, expecting a glare from the sharp hazel eyes, but when she had seen his face, she was in a state of confusion.

'…still drunk?' she thought to herself skeptically. Haruhi got off him, and sat beside him, looking down at his dazed expression. Slowly and cautiously, she took his hand and placed her index and middle finger on his wrist.

She was hoping he was still alive.

Hikaru didn't seem to be alive at all.

'_Remember to get him sober again! –I believe, she doesn't know how…- Yeah, do you have any coffee? Coffee works great on Hikaru when he's…uhm…drunk.'_

Haruhi lit up, as she shifted Hikaru into a better position. 'I better hurry, he has work to do.' She stood up and scurried to her closet to get a change of clothes, and she ran into her bathroom, slamming it on her way.

* * *

Hikaru was still on the floor by the time Haruhi returned with a tray of breakfast and a cup of brewed coffee in her hands. She set it down on a table and looked down at Hikaru. Haruhi realized that the Hitachiin's eyes were lightly closed, dazedly staring out at something.

"Hikaru-san," she mumbled, trying to get his attention. He looked so empty, and his eyes were dulled as it slowly shifted towards her direction. Haruhi immediately felt nervous, and she bent down to help the twenty-five year old onto the edge of her bed. Hikaru didn't speak, but sat where he was to, and stared at her with narrowed hollow eyes.

The brunette tried to ignore his stare, and she handed him a cup of coffee to drink from. Hikaru received it, but his gaze didn't move. Haruhi took a seat in front of him on a chair; she was absently arranging the chopsticks around the tray to keep her mind off his gaze.

"I'm…" he mumbled, after taking a rather long sip. "…-hic- sorry…Kaoru."

Haruhi blinked, and looked at Hikaru, surprised. She wondered if he was still drunk, it wasn't like he would randomly say sorry…but…he mistook her as his twin?

Maybe he was just fooling around with her.

Hikaru lowered the cup of coffee and gazed into the brown steamy substance. "You must be mad at me…-hic- Actually worried, but…I shouldn't have been drinking. And I should've gone home and rest. I should have listened to you. –hic-"

The woman couldn't help but be curious, and she asked softly, "Why were you drinking?"

"I…was depressed," he continued, not noticing that Haruhi wasn't Kaoru. Hikaru kept staring into his cup and said wistfully, "I'm kind of stupid sometimes. –hic- I think I really pushed…too far."

"Too far?"

He drank a long gulp of the coffee.

"Can you buy me another goldfish?" he asked suddenly, jerking his head up and looking into her eyes. Haruhi was put-off for a second of his random question, but noticed the lack of his hiccups. Hikaru's eye became distant as he gazed out the window. "…the last one died. Maybe I fed it the wrong food…"

"Ah," he gasped, causing Haruhi to spring slightly in surprise. "I-…am hungry…" He touched his clothed stomach to have a grumble to agree with his statement. Haruhi sweat dropped, as she took the tray from the table and gave it to him.

"Here. I know it's not as good as the finest chefs, but this is all I could make with the things in the fridge," Haruhi said, displaying the food that she made. The brunette watched Hikaru poke at the fish and then at the tofu.

"What _is_ this strange little thing?"

"It's…fish," she said, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. Hikaru's eyes opened a slight fraction as he picked up the small strip of fried fish. He inspected it with dull eyes, and Haruhi wondered what his reaction would be.

Maybe he would say that it looked horrendously burnt, or anything along the lines of that. After all, Haruhi wasn't such a great person of decorating a piece of fish, like some expert chefs do.

Hikaru took a bite of the fish and slowly chewed it, his eyes were still dull. He turned to Haruhi after chewing and asked, while picking up a cube of tofu. "Don't you hate Renge?"

"W-What?" she asked, watching him eat the vegetarian food. "Why would I hate Renge?"

Haruhi knew she was lying. She truly loathed that pompous girl and how she would act towards Hikaru like he loved her. Haruhi was disgusted by her, but didn't want to admit it in Hikaru's face. However, Hikaru only laughed slightly as he drank the cup of coffee.

"Who're you kidding, Kaoru?" he asked. "You hate Renge. I hate Renge. She gives us nasty coffee; her cooking is terrible, have you tried her cookies lately?" Haruhi slowly shook her head, her brown eyes wide. "They were burnt. And to show my consideration I ate it."

Haruhi stared.

"I ended up excusing myself to the bathroom and throwing up all I have eaten…which was surprisingly only two bites," he contemplated. Hikaru leaned back casually and bit off the fish. His eyebrows rose as he looked in wonder at the food.

"Where did you learn to cook, Kaoru?"

"I…knew how to long time ago," she replied awkwardly. Haruhi was still wondering why he couldn't recognize her.

'And strangely, he doesn't have a hangover…'

She looked up at him and asked, "Is it bad?"

Hikaru munched on it some more and smiled.

"Hardly. You'll make a good husband one day, did you know that? If you can cook this good, I…think I'll want to keep you to myself," he joked lightly. Haruhi, on the other hand, couldn't resist a small blush on her face. He smiled, and tapped his chin several times, "Hm, but then again…I can't love my own twin, 'cus you're already crushing on someone else. But maybe I'll steal you away for myself, and force you to cook me a meal."

"Uhm…thanks…" she responded with a sweat drop. She was glancing anywhere except for the twenty-five year old Hitachiin. Silence ensued as Hikaru enjoyed his breakfast and drank more coffee, becoming more sober. Haruhi looked at Hikaru who was occupied in eating. "Uh…Hikaru-san…"

"Yeah?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"What's your relationship with Renge?" Haruhi asked. She felt rude and nosy when she asked that, but she had to really ask. Haruhi knew she was taking advantage of Hikaru in that state; what if he hates her later on?

But Haruhi **had** to know. A feeling was just prodding at her making her open her mouth and ask.

Hikaru pondered slightly. He started to arrange the fish and tofu on his rice bowl; Haruhi thought he was playing with his food.

…she thought wrong, once he began pointing to a small piece of fish with his chopsticks.

"That. Is. Renge," he said. He removed it and started from the top of the complicated formation. The chopsticks began trailing down from tofu to fish.

"My mother's cousin's daughter, oneechan's sister-in-law's cousin's youngest brother's niece's son's…er...brother-in-law's cousin cousin and the brother-in-law's cousin moved to France marrying the brother-in-law's cousins' wife, who had a sister who married the sister-in-law's second brother, and dada-dada-da! All this shit is so confusing, so we shall skip from there to here—"

Hikaru's chopsticks jumped around the food.

"-and that led to **this**."

He rashly grabbed the fish with his chopsticks, almost slicing it in half.

"This…ignorant bitch. Isn't that funny? For some reason, she's related to us. But all in all…she's still our cousin, just doing what we asked her to," Hikaru said, while he shrugged. He devoured the piece, and chewed it. Hikaru blinked a lot and touched his eye several times. "Contacts slipped off again...?"

'Contacts…?' Haruhi asked herself. So was that why he mistaken her? But something else shocked her, and she tried to put it to the back of her mind. If Hikaru and Renge were cousins…then why—

'Why the heck is she acting like they're dating or-worse!' the subconscious mind screamed. Haruhi didn't pay any attention to the small voice, but was shocked in her own mind. Shocked and surprised, and she wondered what the hell they were up to.

She was confused.

"Oh-! I forgot," he laughed hollowly and sheepishly. "I forgot that I had laser eye surgery."

She stared, and then lowered her look to her fingers. She was confused and shocked by his confession. Renge and Hikaru were…cousins? The word echoed in her brain, drilling it into a spot in her head. She didn't know that they were relatives. She was being played…again, and was stupid to fall for it.

Haruhi swallowed, as she took calming breaths to settle her growing anger. Haruhi found more hate flinging towards Renge and also towards her boss.

Haruhi clenched her eyes shut together. She let herself be played by them. Haruhi was too dense to know that Hikaru was playing around with her, messing her up, watching her fall. She bet that he already knew about her grades…and were _laughing_ at her.

How could she have let them do whatever they want to her? Why did she let Hikaru do whatever he wanted? Why? Wasn't she training to be a lawyer? Isn't she supposed to be able to defend herself with words? Why then…whenever she was being violated and belittled by _Hikaru _did she find the inability to speak?

How could…she have been so…_stupid_?

That's right.

Haruhi's breath caught slightly.

She's always been stupid, always been dense. Why didn't she know? Why did she know…now?

"Kaoru…?"

"Y-Yeah?"

Hikaru bent over from the bed and tried to look up at Haruhi's lowered face. "Eh? Kaoru, are you okay? You seem shocked…and…Ehhh? Why are you-"

Haruhi immediately stood up, the chair pushing backwards. She briskly marched her way walked outside, excusing herself with a: "I'll get more coffee for you, Hikaru-san. So please wait for a moment."

He was left with a questioning face and he finished his sentence.

"-…crying…?"

* * *

'Darn, darn, darn, darn-!' Haruhi yelled repeatedly over in her head, as she walked into the kitchen. She rubbed her eyes quickly when she grabbed the instant coffee jar with one hand. Haruhi was trying to curse away her tears that just sprouted from her eyes for some odd reason.

She took a small spoon and stirred the coffee readily, and she dreaded to walk back into the room. Haruhi so sorely wanted to pack and leave in a moment's notice, she felt miserable. Very miserable. It felt like she was fired on that day when Renge replaced her; but much, much worse. It was a deep feeling that was carving its way down in her chest.

The phone rang, and she inhaled and exhaled heavily. She took the phone into her hand and-

"H-Hello?"

"I'm very sorry, Haruhi. I seem to be very busy…"

"That's not a problem, Kaoru-san…I was going to take Hikaru-san to work."

"I mean…" the voice on the line faltered. "Mind if you come to work today? There seems to be more work than usual."

"No. I don't mind," she said. Haruhi heard a sigh of relief on the other line. Kaoru murmured a small phrase of thanks and Haruhi dismissed it and ended the call by shutting off the phone. There goes her thought of resting at home…

Haruhi picked up the coffee cup, and looked at the room. She didn't want to go back in there and see Hikaru. Haruhi gulped and slowly walked back, even though she didn't want to. Haruhi's fingertips rested on the doorknob, she was wondering whether she should turn it or not.

Her choice was made when the knob turned.

Hikaru bumped into her, sending her spilling the coffee all over the floor and herself. Hikaru's eyes sprung open as the coffee cup fell onto the floor with a 'clack'. Hikaru quickly asked worriedly and guiltily, "Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry about the coffee-"

'Incredible…how could he remain so…casual about it?'

"No, I'm fine, Hikaru-san," she murmured, looking at her coffee stained shirt. Haruhi bent down to pick up the cup and asked him. "How about you? Are you still drunk? Are you okay? It seems like you're still a bit unstable," she bombarded, louder than her usual voice. Her eyes were showing the real hurt, while her questions were just used to release some of her hurt.

Hikaru just stared down at her, noticing her reddened eyes. He raised his eyebrow at her, and she whisked around saying, "Never mind. You must be back to your old self. You're fine now—"

Hikaru involuntarily grabbed her wrist from her turning away. So when she pivoted suddenly on her heel, the coffee underneath her feet slipped her, causing her to crash into Hikaru; her weight pinned him onto the ground, painfully.

Haruhi opened her eyes to see her lying on top of the Hitachiin, whose head landed on the wall behind them; her breath caught when she saw how close he was to her. She could still identify the haziness and drunken status in his eyes; he's not his usual self.

"Sorry," he murmured, but he didn't sound sorry at all. He grabbed Haruhi by the chin and stared into the glassy eyes. "Okay. What's wrong?" It was more of a demand than a question. "Suddenly you're yelling at me about what? You're so…"

Haruhi turned her head away, and sat besides him; her brown bangs covered her face. "It's nothing…" she murmured.

"…Oh god," he murmured to himself. "You're acting weird."

Haruhi bit her lip, and prevented from screaming in his face. "It's nothing."

Hikaru said nothing but stayed silent, looking at her. Haruhi inhaled and exhaled, then looked up. Her eyes went to the clock, and she saw that it was getting late. Without saying much, she cleaned up everything on the floor, changed her t-shirt, and took Hikaru to work.

* * *

Surprisingly, at work…

* * *

"_Uggghhh…damn…"_

"Hika-kun, are you okay?"

"…my head hurts…"

The twenty-five year old pulled himself off his glass desk and tried to prop his head onto his hand. His head weighed a ton, and it ended up falling back onto the table. Several more moans escaped his lips as he experienced the worst hangover possible.

Renge looked worriedly at him, and placed a comforting hand on his head. "I'll get you some painkillers, alright?"

"That'd be appreciated," he mumbled. She nodded and swiftly turned around, leaving the office room. Hikaru rest his head on the cool countertop. It was quiet, only the small noise of rumbling air con filled the room.

He turned slightly to look at the phone on his desk. He was almost tempted into bringing his finger to a button to call his secretary, but he paused—

That's right, she's not in that position anymore.

Hikaru banged his head several times on the glass. The pain from each bang just added to the pain in his head. He grumbled under his breath. The phone rang and his hand slammed onto it, picking it up on the fourth ring.

"El…lo?"

"Hey, Hikaru."

"Oh, Kaoru."

"How's your head?"

"…hateful."

"Hmm. Mind telling me why you were drinking last night?"

"I…was…just…uh…"

"You don't remember?"

Hikaru sat up slightly and muttered into the phone, "Sorry, Kaoru."

He imagined his twin brother waving his hand around distractedly. His scolding voice came back on, "I told you that there were painkillers in your pocket, Hikaru. Ohtori was nice enough to slip in some painkillers for you."

"W-Wait," Hikaru said. He suddenly became alert. His hazel eyes narrowed as he spat venomously, "**He was there**?"

"He found you there," Kaoru lied. Hikaru continued listening intently. "Anyways, I got your stuff handled; have a fun day having a hangover."

Beep

Hikaru's head went back to kissing the table.

* * *

"Haruhi," the wicked voice called. The sound of that very voice sent chills crawling down Haruhi's spine. She turned quickly in her chair, papers in hand, and looked at the person standing at the doorway.

"What is it, _Renge_?" she hissed in reply.

"Just to let you know, Hika-kun has a huge hangover," she said quickly. Haruhi's foul mood let up as she realized that Renge didn't have that haughty look on her. "So can you go upstairs and keep an eye on him?"

"Why?"

"I have to get him some painkillers," she said, jerking her thumb to the back of her. "Please, please, take care of Hika-kun."

"Uhm…sure," Haruhi murmured, slowly getting out of her chair.

* * *

Knock, knock

There was a long groan that Haruhi took as "Come in."

She swung the door open quietly, walking into the dead quiet, empty office. The desk was even swept clear of the piles of papers he always had, the curtains drawn closed, creating an ominous spooky atmosphere. The only thing that didn't fit was the occupant himself.

Who was too busy slamming his head into the desk to even care that she was there.

She blinked, as she closed the door behind her, 'Is this how he's like when he has a hangover?'

"Hikaru-san."

The rhythm of the head-smashing picked up a pace. She shrugged this off and walked over to the curtains behind him, sliding the dark navy curtains open. The light shone brightly in.

"Agh, the light!" He placed his hands over his head, as if that would get rid of the blinding spots in his head. "Turn off the lights! Turn off the lights!"

"Hikaru-san, you're not even facing the windows," Haruhi said skeptically, as she tied the curtains back.

"Head… hurts…" he groaned; she swore that she heard a small sniffle, and then-

Crack

She whipped around to see the Hitachiin lying motionless on the desk; his head was on the glass. Was that…his head…? Her eyes widened, as the twenty-five year stayed motionless. He didn't just kill himself did he?

"Hikaru-san, are you…uhm…okay?" she asked hesitantly. Haruhi slowly walked to his side, and noticed that there was a crack in the glass. She hoped that he was alive; she took a finger and prodded him with it.

"I need painkillers," he garbled in a long and painful drone. His hands weaved into his light-brown hair, as if putting his hands on his head would help with the hangover.

"Renge went to get you painkillers," she replied. "She'll be back soon. Is there anything you need me to do?"

"…Renge's…not here?" he asked, his head shifting so that he faced Haruhi. She felt her heart pick up speed, as he stared at her with blank and dull eyes. Haruhi couldn't recall Hikaru have such a look in his eyes.

-like he's scared of something.

"N-No," she stumbled with her words. Haruhi felt her words catch in her throat before it tumbled out ungracefully, "She came and told me to take care of you. Is…that a problem?"

And he went back to slamming his head against the table. Haruhi wanted to stop her boss, but she couldn't find the right words to get him to stop. 'Wouldn't that give him more of a headache?'

"Haruhi, get me sake."

Startled, Haruhi looked at Hikaru who ceased in his head slamming. His eyes were commanding, demanding for sake. Haruhi's eyebrows furrowed, as small sparks of anger started to ignite inside of her.

"_Now_."

Haruhi turned away from him, and crossed her arms stubbornly. She said, "Sake is unhealthy, Hikaru-san. Especially if you're having a hangover."

"Please?" he begged.

"No," she said. There was silence on Hikaru's part. Haruhi turned slightly to see what Hikaru was doing. Her employer had fumbled with the phone on his desk and pressed a blinking orange button on it.

There was a long and audible beep.

"Kaoru."

"Yes?"

"Get me sake."

There was silence then a:

"What the heck are you going to do with sake?"

There were pauses of silence. And Haruhi looked from the phone and to Hikaru. The Hitachiin pulled the phone closer to him and he whined into the receiver, "But Kaoru—I have to punish myself—"

"You already did!" came the irritated tone. Hikaru fell silent and subdued to his voice. "Besides, your tolerance for alcohol is low, and if you want to die, than get your own bottle." Hikaru stared at the phone in disgust and dismay.

"Fine."

And the line was cut. Hikaru banged his head on the desk, before he pulled out his cell phone. Haruhi was watching from afar; what punishment did Hikaru mean? And why was he so desperate to get his hands on an alcoholic drink?

Hikaru clicked two buttons—speed dial, Haruhi figured—and he put the phone to his ear. "Suou-san-"

"No," he deadpanned, strangely happy.

"-get me sake."

"Your brother told me to say no."

"What the- how?"

Hikaru narrowed his eyes as he heard a very familiar giggles on the phone. He pulled the phone away and looked at it as if it was spiked. Hikaru returned to the phone and sighed, "Fine, Kaoru. I'm going to get my own bottle and _die_."

"Wa-"

Beep

Hikaru immediately stood up from his chair; Haruhi was watching with wide eyes. She wondered if Hikaru was going to kill himself. After all she couldn't tell whether or not Hikaru was joking. With his disgruntled look, she wondered if he was going to—

"W-Wait!" Haruhi exclaimed, grabbing Hikaru's sleeve before he exited the door. He looked at her, surprised and…what?

-scared?

Hikaru closed his eyes, and brushed his old secretary's hand off his coat sleeve. "Why do you want to get sake?" the Fujioka yelled at him. He didn't say anything to her, and remained silent. He's starting to get a headache.

"What's wrong with you, Hikaru-san? Why did you get drunk? Why—"

"It's not your business."

She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Haruhi was completely unable to say anything.

The twenty-five year old bit her lower lip and looked painfully at him. She wanted him to do something, something that didn't seem too cold or harsh…but it was only wishful thinking. Hikaru didn't look at her after he said his statement.

Words…words _again _failed to come to her aid. She was weak. _Weak. _That was why she had started failing in her studies, that was why she had such terrible feelings of hatred and anger boiling in her, that was why she found herself crumbling.

_He ruined her life. _

Hikaru took her and broke her. Broke her to pieces, and just threw her away—he won't care to mend her. But no matter how broken he left her, Haruhi was stubborn. She was stubborn enough to cling on—

And _survive_ the insane torture that he was putting her through.

It clicked. Memories of her dream the last night registered…bit…by…bit—

She's broken. Like a broken doll. Mentally and emotionally beaten up and lying on the floor with no one near. Hikaru's there, but he's just…_there_, he does nothing. He doesn't even say a word to her, and doesn't even do anything—but _stare_.

Haruhi was trembling, her brown eyes were wide. Why? Why did Kami put her here? She didn't deserve this. Haruhi was just there, at the wrong place and at the wrong time—she was just there when Hikaru read her resume on day one—

She didn't write the resume that made Hikaru choose her.

She didn't expect that this job would cost her more than a couple hours of work.

She didn't deserve this at all.

He was just so close, and just there—

The brunette found herself grabbing onto his coat, and she said, "Hikaru-san, I—"

"Haruhi, stop bothering me. I can do what I want," he said in an icy cold voice, while shaking her off. The voice itself cut deep into Haruhi, and the glare that he gave made her breath fall short. Her heart just _stopped_. Haruhi found herself unable to breathe. It was heavy; her breath was heavy; she couldn't reel in a new gasp of air.

She can't breathe—

Her eyes started to glaze. A tear trickled down from her eye, and she strained to breathe. The load in her chest was weighing her down. Her lower lip trembled and Haruhi stared at Hikaru's back desperately. She needed help—

_I…_

-she couldn't breathe. The burden was overwhelming. The hurt, the pain, the trials, the tribulations, the suffering—Haruhi wanted to cry—she wanted to scream, scream for this whole ordeal to end.

_Love…_

He won't care, she told herself. Hikaru's just walking away; her feet are frozen to the floor where she stood. Tears slid down from her eyes.

_Him…_

_So much pain._ She can't take it. It's too much. It's destroying her—killing her. Haruhi doesn't want to deal with anymore. _I don't want it, I don't want it, I don't want it-! _Why is she putting up with this? Why?

Her feet acted on its own, running to Hikaru quickly. She doesn't know what she's thinking anymore, she wanted this to stop; she wanted everything to just…_stop_. He was just a step away from the door—Haruhi threw herself at him, her arms encircled around his torso.

He paused, when she hugged him. "S-Stop," she said weakly into his black suit. "P-Please…don't hurt yourself—don't…" Her voice was choked and strangled. Hikaru turned, even if it was slightly. His hazel eyes widened. Haruhi was crying; salty tears stained her flustered cheeks, and small drops of tears clung to her eyelashes.

Kami…she was _crying_. Haruhi tried not to cry, but holding her tears in was hard and difficult.

"S-Stop…" she said shakily. "I-I…don't want you to get…hurt..."

Hikaru turned around fully, and demanded—"Why do you even care—"

It was a blur of actions-Haruhi grabbed his tie roughly and yanked him down. Her other hand was firmly planted on his shoulder—

Her lips met his in a crushing manner. Hikaru's hazel eyes widened an incredible amount, his heartbeat banging in his ears. The kiss seemed to numb his pounding headache. Haruhi's eyes were shut, she wasn't aware of what she was doing. And then—

She ripped away from him, and refused to look at him in the eye. Her hand ventured to her mouth and covered it; her face was a blazing red. Haruhi mumbled quietly, "It…it h-hurts…" Hikaru only stared, his fingers grazed his lips.

Haruhi's eyes were on the floor and she said, "I-It hurts…I…don't want you…to feel what I felt..."

Her hands traveled to her face to rub her eyes. Haruhi sniffed, and continued in a strong voice, "E-Everything you did…it hurts me…it's painful…I didn't think…I'd live…" Her voice began to falter, and the tears were revived. Her words came out in a hoarse whisper, "I'm weak…I…w-wanted to die, and it felt like my heart was ripping…It…was too much for me to bear."

"Y-You pushed me, Hikaru-san," she shut her eyes. Haruhi's voice rose in volumes. "I was already past the border, I was ripping, Hikaru-san! I felt like I was dying, over and over again. And you kept doing it-! You kept hurting me to limits that I never knew I could be hurt. It really hurts…"

"Then why didn't you leave?" his stoic voice asked. Haruhi's eyes widened in surprise. "If you hated it…you could have left…You could have left everyone… you could have left _me_."

She shook her head, Haruhi murmured, "That's why…I couldn't…even though…you hate me…a-and all." Haruhi couldn't even think straight anymore. She clenched her eyes; the tears were already falling again.

"I-I didn't want to leave. The pain…did hurt…" She started to tremble, and she had her hands slowly gripping each other. "But I…but I…" Haruhi's voice became littered with chokes and sobs. "I did it, I went through it, because I…I…love you, Hikaru-san."

Hikaru only stared at her, a passive face on.

"Make it stop, please," she cried, her hands tried to wipe away the tears. "I don't want to suffer anymore. It hurts…I want this to stop…p-please…" Hikaru didn't move, and Haruhi's sob became a bit more relentless. "What do you want, Hikaru-san? You've been doing all these things to me-!" the brunette exclaimed. "What do you want? Did you just do all this to just see me this pitiful and miserable?"

"No…"

"What did you want?" she asked. Something gripped her wrist, and the next thing that she saw was black. She was confused by his action, and her tears were beginning to dry. Hikaru held her tightly and close, he stared ahead guiltily.

"I…Haruhi…if I told you…" he murmured into her brown hair. "-that…I didn't trust anyone except a few…what would you say?"

"I…don't know," Haruhi admitted.

Hikaru pulled away from her, and for the first time—Haruhi could see emotion splayed in his eyes. Guilt was evident, but…something wasn't right. He smiled stiffly, and placed a hand on her head. Hikaru muttered, "I…I'm not worth crying for, nor am I a guy you could love. Just hate me, Haruhi. After all I did, you deserve the right to hate me-"

"But, Hikaru-san—"

"Yeah," he interrupted, as he put his hands inside his suit pocket. "You're right. I pushed too far. I knew that I was being harsh. I knew that I was going to make you hate me. Everyone in Japan is right about me—I'm a bastard. A lousy, heart-breaking bastard."

"W-Why?" Haruhi asked, a bit taken aback. "Why did you do it? Why?"

"I…don't trust people," Hikaru answered. He laughed guiltily and hollowly, while he raked his hand through his light-brown hair. "I'm scared that if I trust them, they would leave me…alone. I hate being alone. So…I hurt people before they hurt me, and I tend to leave lots of damages…all in my sake."

Haruhi looked at him with her mouth slightly open. So that meant—he was…_hurting_ her on purpose? The pain…everything…was on _purpose_?

"With that look on your face…I think you found new hate for me, eh?" the twenty-five year old asked. "I'm meant to be hated by everyone—" His confident words dwindled when Haruhi raised her hand. He winced, expecting her to slap him.

But the slap didn't come.

Instead a warm hand rested on his cheek, and Hikaru blinked at her in confusion. "I don't hate you," was all she said. Hikaru stared with wide eyes, and Haruhi wrapped her arms around his head, bringing him into a hug. Hikaru's eyes slowly closed shut, making known a small tear drop that was threatening to fall.

"I can't hate you."

The tear slid down and fell onto Haruhi's shirt, and he returned her hug.

_Arigatou._

* * *

Outside the glass panel next to the door, a certain brunette was looking in it. She had seen it all, and she looked blankly at the painkillers in her hands. 'I guess, Hika-kun wouldn't need this,' she thought.

Renge looked back up and through the glass.

She smiled.

"I'm glad it worked out for you, Hika-kun," she whispered, before leaving.


	8. Chapter 8

"Haruhi already found everything out, Hikaru can trust her fully now, so everything's on good terms," the younger Hitachiin twin rationalized, as he flung his pen around. "It's amazing how Haruhi lived through all that torture."

"Amazing, indeed," the other man commented as he leaned against the doorframe. "She must have really strong feelings for him then. Something that I wasn't able to achieve…"

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at Tamaki in interest. "What do you mean? You know Haruhi longer don't you, Suoh?"

"Well, yeah," Tamaki admitted, scratching his head absently. He closed his azure eyes and sighed deeply. "She…was never really fond of me at first; I guess we haven't really been 'dating' that well." He rubbed his chin. "Oh yeah, Hitachiin…about that threat…"

"You mean when you said you'll take violent measures?" Kaoru asked, his good mood wiped away. He narrowed his eyes at the blonde who only gave a dangerous smile. "It's still on, is it?"

"Of course not," Tamaki deadpanned in a sarcastic tone. "I'll just be by the sidelines watching over things, and if I see her hurt, one of you twins will get in serious trouble."

Kaoru forced a smile, and he sat up in his chair. "Haha," he laughed dryly. "Very funny. Like hell would Hikaru do anything that emotionally scarring to her. He trusts her, plus—this whole ordeal wasn't all about trust." The younger Hitachiin rolled his eyes. "Hikaru's a worry-wart if you ask me."

"Why?"

He gave an irritated glance at Tamaki, who was just grinning victoriously. Kaoru sighed, "Hikaru…worried so much about her grades in law school, about how she would balance her life, if he was paying her enough, if she liked her job—"

"Haruhi complex?"

"Pretty much so…"

* * *

'_You're not selfish anymore, I see.'_

'_I'm just afraid for her grades.'_

'_Afraid that she might not pass?'_

'_Because this job hinders her.'_

'_Growing up, eh, Hikaru…?'_

_Hikaru paused slightly, the phone to his ear. Of course he had been growing up; it was time for him to quit being a child. Taking a gulp, he answered, "No…I've been thinking a lot about it. And couldn't help but be curious about her social life."_

_The voice on the phone seemed to smirk on the other side. "So tell me, what had your handy-dandy research tell you?"_

_Hikaru blinked and closed his eyes trying to recollect the information he obtained from a database. "She goes to Law school during the week except Sundays, it starts at seven and ends at two. The rest of her time is spent here until seven. Her regular pattern of life has been disrupted since she's been here."_

"_And…?"_

"_It's my fault," Hikaru said guiltily into the receiver. _

"_What?"_

"_It's my fault that she had gotten a bit off-beat."_

"_It's only a bit, Hikaru," the other voice said; Hikaru could distinguish the distress in his voice. "Besides, she doesn't hate her job…does she?" _

_There was an unconvinced silence on Hikaru's part, and he stared at the huge stacks of papers on his desk. His mind reeled back to the previous conversation. "In fact…I think…"_

* * *

_"Anyways, with everything going on around here, I actually can't believe that I finished this stack of papers," the twenty-five year old woman said, giving Hikaru an accusing glance. "You'll find everything in here done, and I filed most of the papers-…Hikaru-san, are you even listening to me?"_

_The young president snapped out of dreamland and blinked at her stupidly. "Huh? What were you saying?"_

_A vein popped on her head, and irritation grew in her voice. "Hikaru-san. I'm trying to do my best as your secretary, so please try to cooperate with me."_

* * *

_The older twin stayed silent, leaving his sentence hanging. Of course…Hikaru never thought of it before. His golden eyes lowered down from the papers and he fiddled with the buttons on his suit._

_He never gave it one thought. How selfish…_

"_Hikaru?"_

_Very quickly, Hikaru answered, "You know what, I already solved the problem. I just needed you to know what's been going on. Don't worry about stuff, I got it covered." _

"_Wai-"_

_**Beep**_

* * *

"That's where Renge stepped in," he explained, sitting against his office chair. The older twin twiddled with his fingers and looked at Haruhi nervously, who was sitting across from him, "I…thought that you might have a harder time here, so I asked Renge to replace you."

Haruhi only stared blankly at him, and Hikaru gulped. He simpered and murmured, "I had this feeling that you hated this job, so I…demoted you to something else that gave you a bit more of a breather...so…"

"Hikaru-san…" she started; irritation was clear in her voice. "You…stupid, _stupid_, little boy." Hikaru winced, as if every word dug deep in his mind. "You could have ASKED me, oh my god. What are you? Dense? Why would I hate my job anyways?"

"I…"

"Look Hikaru-san, if you were worrying about me—"

"But I didn't know if your trust in me was genuine, even though I was worrying about you…so I just had to know," Hikaru defended himself. His voice dwindled into a small mutter, as his eyes strayed away from the girl in front of him.

"I…was hurting myself, whenever I was acting mean to you. I thought that if you didn't trust me, then during the hard times, you would have left. It's much easier to hurt others, than to let myself get hurt…"

Hikaru frowned, and he looked at the desk guiltily. "…sorry…"

Haruhi stared at his form for a while, and allowed a small smile to grace her lips. She said softly, "It's fine, Hikaru-san. But you're still stupid."

"Ow," he mumbled emotionlessly, scratching the back of his neck. "Words cut deeper than actions…"

"And I was…failing," Haruhi confessed. She brought down her brown orbs to the glass desk, and sighed heavily. "I…couldn't concentrate…because…of it. Because you did so much awful things, my grade was brought down…"

"Kami, you're failing?"

Haruhi looked up and met Hikaru's dumbfounded gaze. She slowly nodded, "Yeah…"

BAM

"Good god, I made you fail," he miserably moaned onto the desk. Hikaru's head rolled around slightly. Haruhi sweat dropped. He clutched his head and banged his head several times on the glass. "Stupid hangover's coming back!"

"…do you need painkillers, Hikaru-san?"

"Where's Renge? She has the painkillers—"

K-chak

Haruhi and Hikaru turned to the door and looked at the intruder. He was smirking, his hand in his pocket, while the other held a box. "Well, well—you two made up? So don't mind if I come in," he cheerily said, walking up to the desk in the front.

"Kaoru, you always come in the right time," Hikaru mumbled sarcastically. "Is that painkillers in your hands?" Kaoru threw the box up and down, nodding. "Can I have it?" His twin hesitated, and tossed the box onto the desk.

"Knock yourself out…"

While Hikaru groaned and opened the box to eat the small pills, Kaoru sat against the table and looked directly at Haruhi with a strange smirk on his face. "So…do you understand everything that Hikaru did? I couldn't help but eavesdrop from outside…"

"Somewhat," Haruhi murmured. She looked at her fingers, wondering why she didn't choke Hikaru yet. "I…was being tested…wasn't I?" Kaoru nodded, humming a small tune to accompany his nod. "And…kami…was that the test that Hikaru-san was talking about when he hired me?"

"Bingo," Hikaru muttered. Haruhi's shocked gaze landed on the older Hitachiin twin, and he scratched his head tiredly. "I told you before…the test is harsh…many ended up going home crying…"

"What was that date in the beginning?"

"The first part of the test," the twins deadpanned.

"What was the second part?" she asked. Haruhi was starting to feel a bit sick.

"When Renge replaced you," Hikaru muttered. She stared at him, and rubbed her head furiously. Did she understand? Unfortunately, she didn't understand.

There were three purposes…for all this suffering? Hikaru was afraid of being hurt, so he hurt her instead to protect himself and at the same time, he worried that Haruhi wasn't getting good grades, and at the _same_ time, it was all a test.

"So complicated-!"

"Yeah, it is," Hikaru mumbled, resting his head on the glass. "I'm glad it's over…"

Kaoru withheld a laugh and he patted his twin brother on the head. He said lightly, "So…Haruhi, do you forgive him?"

"Yeah, it wasn't his fault anyways," she said in a content sigh. A small red tint crept onto Hikaru's cheeks, and Kaoru smiled teasingly at him. Haruhi stared at the air, and tapped her chin slightly. "But…_he's still an idiot_."

The younger twin winced; so did Hikaru.

"Ouch."

"Hmm?"

* * *

When you use things against him, you'll be destroying things that aren't all about business. With that inhuman theory of yours, you'll be cutting bonds that are already established. You're aiming for feelings, hoping that if you weaken emotional status, business will fall. Are you going to be content when you do?

I agree that feelings don't exist where business is. But are you degrading yourself to that level just to get what you want?

_He's only human, you know…_

* * *

_It was quiet down the halls. The man moved silently down, contemplating about his theory. Kyouya loved to crack mysteries and the mystery of what Hikaru's weakness was proved to be worthwhile._

_It was only a matter of time when he would use it against him and strike._

_Hit him indirectly and snatch away the company during their hard times. Kyouya was just that inhumane and heartless. He didn't care, he never cared. Nothing really mattered, and the fact that he would break someone emotionally wouldn't matter to him._

_He was worse than Hikaru._

_Kyouya didn't carry any emotions with him, nor does he have a heart._

_Breaking another's emotional stature was easy for him, he had done it countless of times to his female advisors and secretaries who often grew fond of him, and left before they had shed any tears. What would make Kyouya care about Hikaru then?_

_Small sniffs interrupted Kyouya from his walk, and his pace slowed down as he crept around the corner. Who would be crying in the middle of the hall? If so, he would have to tell either of the Hitachiin twins that an employee was busy crying—_

"_Ow!"_

_Kyouya blinked and looked at the woman crumpled on the floor. She was rubbing her forehead and a small box had slipped out from her hands. The brunette climbed onto her feet and picked up the box while standing. Kyouya stared at her blankly. _

"_Sorry about that," she said quietly, smoothing out the wrinkles that was on her skirt. "I...wasn't paying attention…"_

"_I…uhm…its fine," Kyouya said absently, his eyes was still fixed on her. 'I don't believe I seen her before. But then again, her bow does look a bit…familiar…'_

"_You're Ohtori Kyouya, aren't you?" she asked, rubbing her eyes slightly. Kyouya's attention was snagged to the slight puffiness to her eyes. "It's a privilege to meet you, Ohtori-san. I'm Hoshakuji Renge." She held out her hand to Kyouya; he ignored it. _

"_Excuse me for asking but…were you crying?"_

"_W-What? No! Of course not!" she denied, waving her hands frantically. A cheery smile was on Renge's face, but it contradicted the small tear drop that slid from her eyes; Kyouya froze. "I'm sorry, but you might have misheard or—"_

"_Your eyes are red," he blatantly pointed out, pushing up his glasses to hide the leaking emotions on his face. A fleeting moment of surprise came and left Renge's features, and she whisked around to rashly wipe at her eyes. _

"_No, no, it's just that dust—"_

_A small rectangle of folded tissue was offered to her, and Renge took a small peek at him. He was staring right at her, and the direct contact of their eyes made her feel a bit uncomfortable. "You might get fired if your bosses found out," he murmured. "Even though they're your cousins…"_

"_Thanks…" she said, taking the tissue into her hands. Renge patted her eyes dry, wondering if she embarrassed herself in front of Ohtori Kyouya. "I… should get going." Wordlessly, Renge left him standing in the halls._

_Kyouya tucked a hand into his pocket, while the other covered his mouth. Even though it was covered, he couldn't keep the small pink tint on his face hidden. Kyouya felt that his heart beat increased and it was a sign that was—_

_Not good. _

_Pretty soon, as he walked down the halls Kyouya found himself in front of Hikaru's office window. In pure curiosity, his analytic gaze swung towards the window. He froze; his eyes glued to the scene._

_Hikaru was burying his face into the crook of Haruhi's neck, hugging her tightly as if he was afraid that she would disappear when he let go. Haruhi was just smiling, with tears that still streamed from her eyes._

_Kyouya's eyes wandered away, and he remembered faintly that Renge had been crying. Why Renge was crying was something that Kyouya had to wonder. She was his cousin, and shouldn't have felt betrayed of some sort. The raven-haired man shook his head, dismissing the question, and threaded his fingers through his black hair. _

_The voice in the back of his head murmured, 'I hate it when women cry…'_

* * *

He remembered the unneeded words that his father contributed to him when he shared with him of his theory and plan. _Inhuman_, his father said. _You're becoming inhuman._ Did he need any feelings to be successful?

No.

_Lousy emotions just get in your way when you want to succeed_.

He learned by that rule and it was the only main rule that he had carried on with him from the time he was in high school. _Get to the top and control all businesses with a callous heart._ After all, money doesn't have feelings, so humans with money don't need any.

That was his philosophy. It was his, and his father was the one who had pounded it into him.

Only now…only now when he had inherited the company did his father become lax with the rules. Of course—he grumbled to himself, his father had been with _his _father for much too long, and the rule-making man had changed a dramatic amount.

His theory…his plan...was to be presented to his father, but didn't intend to be rejected.

_Are you stooping that low? Cheating to get what you really want?_

Cheating? Has he been cheating? He has been doing things fairly—anything to get to the top of Japan's economy. He wanted to get to the top—to control the Hitachiin and the Suoh Co. and everything else underneath them.

_Ohtori_ needs to be on top, and _Ohtori Kyouya_ wanted it to happen.

After all.

There are no such things as feelings in business.

* * *

He sat there in the illuminated room; a hand was on the mouse and the other near his mouth. He had been in that position for a while now, and was staring at the blaring computer screen. Kyouya ran a tired hand through his neatly combed black hair, and sighed.

He was looking over his company's status. It currently ranked first. Kyouya moved his mouse elsewhere and clicked. A circle graph appeared and he observed the status of all three companies: Ohtori, Suoh, and Hitachiin.

Hitachiin owned sixty-percent of the best fashion companies, while others were just rivals. Suoh had many hotels that dotted across Japan, reaching well close to sixty-two percent, as well an additional two percent for other companies. Ohtori was in charge of a variety of things, majority of it being hospitals, medicine factories, and health-fitness places; his share was a good seventy percent.

These factors made the three the top at the economy.

While Tamaki had no interest in overtaking one of the top two, Hikaru and Kaoru only become possessive of their companies. Kyouya, on the other hand, had complete interest in grabbing the Hitachiin's business under his name. Tamaki was sly enough to maneuver around Kyouya's tactics, and he convinced his black-haired friend that his company wouldn't go to anyone else, other than Suoh.

So…

Kyouya stood up from his seat, shutting off the power quickly. He stalked off to his bed, sitting on it, and pulled a black notebook onto his lap. The twenty-six year old flipped it open and re-read his plan.

In the beginning, way before the week where he would meet the others, he had planned to target Hitachiin Hikaru. Recent success stemmed from Hikaru's fashionable sketches, pulling them ahead of all other companies.

Striking him down would be easy.

Unlike Kyouya, Hikaru carries emotions with him, although he may seem to be cold-hearted. His weakness?

Kyouya knew it from the first day. He knew who Hikaru was so soft for; Kyouya had devised the perfect way to hurt him. Inhumane…his father may be right. Kyouya looked at the neatly scribbled words on his notebook paper.

_Take Fujioka Haruhi from him._

That was his plan. Kyouya took the edge of the notebook page…

And _tore_ it. He ripped it into small pieces, and allowed it to flutter onto the floor. Kyouya watched with passive eyes, and he closed his notebook and placed it elsewhere. He didn't care about the plan—he didn't need to.

His father was right; Kyouya was unfeeling and without emotions. He doesn't give a damn if Hikaru feels agony, cries, and does whatever he could to get Haruhi back. Kyouya doesn't care about Hikaru, or his father's words about how evil and heartless his plan was.

But he did care about one thing—

_She's bound to cry._

* * *

When he would break hearts, he would ruthlessly reject women, and command them to leave his presence. Kyouya doesn't stand by to watch them cry; he absolutely loathed women who shed tears.

Women who cried showed their weakness, showed how pathetic they are, and how hurt they are. But he absolutely hates them, because it shows his certain soft spot for them. He doesn't love any woman; they're too stupid and haughty. He treats them the same like he does to men; women are humans and so are men; so he treats them the same.

Kyouya hated seeing tears fall, especially if it was a woman who was crying. Those times are when he sees how different they are from men; they would present themselves as fragile, hurt, weak, and how pathetic they are without comfort.

Because that's how he sees them when they cry, and he hates it, so he leaves abruptly before they do. Kyouya may be unfeeling, but—

He's only human.

_Things wouldn't change,_ he thought, as he looked at Hikaru and Haruhi as he passed by in a hall. —

_If I leave you two alone and together._

* * *

-A year later…

* * *

"Good morning!" a cheery voice erupted from the door. The woman pranced into the room and jumped onto the bed where a sleeping business man occupied. The abnormally short maid-skirt splayed as she sat on her knees, while peeling off the layers of blankets. "Don't hide, Kyou-kun, and wake up!"

A grunt was heard, but nothing else. The light-brunette dug in the pile of blankets, and grabbed an arm. She pulled the arm, and finally a cranky Kyouya was pulled from his covers. "Renge-kun," he growled angrily and tiredly. "Just five more—"

"There's no time to waste, get up and awake!" Renge jumped off his bed and wandered over to the large windows that were blocked by huge curtains—

"Kyou-kun, there aren't enough lights in your room, it's so sad—are you a dim person?" she asked, pulling the curtains apart. Streams of blaring sunlight poured into the room, and Kyouya instinctively began to crawl back underneath his covers.

"No, you can't go back to sleep!" she chided, grabbing Kyouya's arm, and pulling him out again. A disgruntled moan escaped his lips. "Work calls, Kyou-kun! You can't blame me for waking you up this early; you practically told me last night to wake you up extra early—"

It clicked in his half-asleep brain, and he allowed himself to be dragged out by the hyperactive adult. Some other maids peered in from the safety of the door, and they were amazed at how Renge could handle Kyouya…especially in the mornings…

"There you go, Kyou-kun," Renge said, placing the sleepy man onto a chair. She turned towards his closet and grabbed a pair of suits and flung it at him. "Get up and get dressed!" He wouldn't move, so she grabbed him and pushed him to the bathroom.

Ever since Renge was offered by Kyouya to be his advisor, she had been inviting herself into his 'house' part of the building and would wake him up. Renge did catch him pissed in the mornings, but he would never yell or snap at her…

Wonder why.

Well…no problem. The stoical man still has a long way to learn about feelings; he should get some…

_And when it seems like Kyouya has a potential love life to live…_

* * *

…_two men remain single and without a love life…_

"Hey, Kaoru—" he greeted, slipping into the chair at a coffee table. He set down his cup, and Kaoru looked up from a book.

"Hi."

"How's your business?"

"Great. Yours?"

"Awesome."

There was a dead silence, as they drank their coffee serenely. Tamaki was glancing around before he chanced a glance at the younger Hitachiin twin. He twirled the small stirring spoon in the air, while thoughtfully asking, "Oh yeah, didn't you like your secretary?"

"You mean, Miyu-chan?"

"Yeah," the blonde replied nonchalantly. He airily murmured, "Is it me, or are the Hitachiins all about…trusting…? And falling in love with commoners?"

Kaoru's eye twitched and he slammed the book down on the table. "It's nothing that you should be very concerned about, Tamaki. We…are very doubtful people, and…don't think that Hikaru loving Haruhi has anything to do with me and…my…secretary."

At the mention of Miyu, he blushed furiously, pretending to be flipping through the book, "Besides, what the hell are you implying anyways?"

Tamaki leaned against the chair he was sitting in and sipped his cup of coffee. He raised his eyebrows and asked Kaoru, "But don't you like her?"

There was a silence. Kaoru gave a light glare to Tamaki, as if the answer was the most obvious in the world. Finally, after fidgeting with his book— "…yeah," he murmured honestly.

"Did you do anything yet?"

"No."

"…are you scared?"

"Maybe…" Kaoru admitted. Tamaki only looked amused, and shook his head.

"Look where your brother is, and learn from him," the older one said, while setting his steaming cup down onto the table. "But…please don't break their small fragile hearts, I swear…your brother…is so lucky that Haruhi didn't murder him yet."

_And while friendship bonds are wonderful between Kaoru and Tamaki…_

* * *

…_the bond between Hikaru and Haruhi just seem to be growing…_

"Here you go, Hikaru-san," the brunette sighed, as she filed the many folders that she had into a cabinet. "I'm done with all the work you gave me, and…"

"…why the heck are you not doing anything?" She made her point by pointing at the small origami things that he was making, and then her eyes went to the large, toppling stacks of papers.

Hikaru peered up from the paper in his hands and smiled innocently, "I…was bored."

She rolled her eyes and walked close to his desk, taking a seat at a chair nearby. Haruhi picked up a paper crane and stared at the strange craftsmanship of it, "Origami, huh? What are all these things for?"

"A good cause," he said distractedly, throwing a finished flower into the small box sitting on his table. The brown-eyed woman's stare went to the heap of crumpled papers underneath his desk, and she wondered how much paper he wasted.

"Okay, Hikaru-san…today, the owner of the Chieri Co. is scheduled to meet you today," Haruhi said, flicking the lone crane around the desk. Hikaru hummed in reply, as he popped a small tart into his mouth. She paused, and her eye began to twitch. "And…you said you were going to charm her…by taking her to lunch…?"

"Is my Haruhi jealous?" Hikaru teased with a smile on his face. A small stubborn thin line of red appeared on her face, and she glared at him, while he tossed in the last paper work into the small box on his table. He stood up and walked around the desk. "Don't worry; I'll always be true to you. It's good to get on a rival's good side, or else they'll think ill of me."

"Sure," she mumbled sarcastically. Haruhi knew that Hikaru was a con artist, and she hated the mere fact that he would be…appealing to other women! That would be like he's unfaithful or something. But really, when was Haruhi ever…jealous? "With your _ill_ nature, you'll appeal them alright. Jeez."

"Besides, I hate her, but it's never bad to make a good impression," Hikaru shrugged. Haruhi looked away, and crossed her arms. Hikaru bent over her chair and stared at her. He cooed, "Jealous, my dear Haruhi?"

"Hell no, like I'm jealous," she said with a twitch of her eye. Suddenly, the Hitachiin seemed to be closer now. Haruhi abruptly stood up and brushed her skirt from wrinkles, hoping that it would distract her from Hikaru's analytic gaze. "You have to go soon—"

"I don't want to," he murmured, pushing himself towards her. Haruhi took a small step back.

"Hikaru-san…you have to go."

"Call me _Hikaru_," he prodded, with an annoying smile. Her eye narrowed slightly, and she shook her head stubbornly. "Why not?"

"I'm too used to Hikaru-san," she lied, ignoring the blush that was creeping on her face. She thought it was awkward to call her employer by his first name; if she did…the press would be nagging her for the reason. "You have to meet your little _friend _for lunch…"

"I'll pick you up after," he said with a smile.

"Why?"

"To have lunch!" he exclaimed. Haruhi expected an annoying answer, and she wasn't surprised with his immature response. She only closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her index fingers. She sighed tiredly.

"Hikaru—"

Hikaru grabbed her chin gently and kissed her on the lips, cutting her sentence. Haruhi's eyes snapped open, and she stepped back shakily; his desk stopped her from taking another step. Something thick was nudging at her lips, and forced itself way in.

Something was shoved into her mouth; she wondered if it was his tongue, because it left a fleeting moment after. He pressed something small into the palm of her hand, and broke away.

Haruhi blinked.

"Yup, _Hikaru_ sounds nice, alright," he commented, while he gave a toothy smile. He turned around swiftly, and ran out the door, saying, "See you later!"

"Wha-?" her speech was blurred by two small round objects in her mouth. It tasted sweet and sour, and was passed to her by him. Haruhi cringed in disgust, but didn't care at the moment, because the other object felt weird in her mouth. Haruhi's tongue pushed the foreign and metallic-tasting object to the front of her mouth and she took it from her parted lips.

Pinched in her hands was a diamond…ring? It was beautifully designed; three small diamonds dotted together, and it was wet…with saliva. She stared at it.

The small note in her hand crinkled slightly, making it known. She looked at her hand and then at the ring. Haruhi slowly opened her hand and saw the folded note paper. She unfolded the piece of paper. In blotchy ink, it read:

_Will you marry me?_

A large red blush spread on her cheek, and she smiled.

"Of course."

-Done.

EDIT: (July 18, 2011) Whoever made it this far, I applaud you, because this thing really burn eyeballs, lol. G'day.


End file.
